1996.08.07: August 7, 1996: Headlines: Directors - Ruppe: Figures: Directors: Obituaries: New York Times: Obituary for Loret Miller Ruppe
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1996.08.07: August 7, 1996: Headlines: Directors - Ruppe: Figures: Directors: Obituaries: New York Times: Obituary for Loret Miller Ruppe
Obituary for Loret Miller Ruppe
When Mrs. Ruppe took over the Peace Corps, it was very much in need of revitalization. Its volunteer force had shrunk from a high of more than 15,000 in 1966 to about 5,000, and its budget had been cut. The agency had had seven directors in the previous decade, and it had lost much of its independence after President Richard M. Nixon folded it into an umbrella agency called Action in an effort to downgrade some programs inherited from his Democratic predecessors. In 1982, Congress restored the corps' independence. Mrs. Ruppe tried new approaches to bolster the volunteer ranks. She decided that the youthful idealism of, say, a 22-year-old English major might be nicely balanced by the experience and special skills of, say, an agricultural scientist in his mid-50's who did spot-welding in his spare time. She pressed the search for volunteers with specific skills -- tending forests, stocking fish ponds, setting up sanitation systems -- and encouraged special arrangements with colleges and universities. Some colleges offered financial concessions to students with heavy debts if they joined the Peace Corps; others offered programs combining work on master's degrees with service in the corps. On Jan. 10, 1985, Mrs. Ruppe went on national television to say that the Peace Corps was looking for 600 volunteers to do famine-relief work in Africa. Within a few days, more than 7,000 people contacted the agency. Mrs. Ruppe drew praise from R. Sargent Shriver, the Democrat and Kennedy in-law who was the Peace Corps' first director. ''She's the kind of Republican we tried to recruit into management when we first started out,'' Mr. Shriver said in 1982. Loret Miller Ruppe was Director of the Peace Corps from 1981 to 1989.
Obituary for Loret Miller Ruppe
Loret Miller Ruppe, 60, Dies; Reinvigorated the Peace Corps
By DAVID STOUT
Published: August 7, 1996
Loret Miller Ruppe, who was head of the Peace Corps longer than anyone else in the organization's 35-year history and was credited by many with restoring much of its Kennedy-era vitality, died yesterday at her home in Bethesda, Md. She was 60.
The cause was ovarian cancer, her family said.
Mrs. Ruppe was appointed director of the Peace Corps by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. She served for eight years, after which she was appointed Ambassador to Norway by President George Bush. She held that post until 1993.
When Mrs. Ruppe took over the Peace Corps, it was very much in need of revitalization. Its volunteer force had shrunk from a high of more than 15,000 in 1966 to about 5,000, and its budget had been cut.
The agency had had seven directors in the previous decade, and it had lost much of its independence after President Richard M. Nixon folded it into an umbrella agency called Action in an effort to downgrade some programs inherited from his Democratic predecessors.
In 1982, Congress restored the corps' independence. Mrs. Ruppe tried new approaches to bolster the volunteer ranks. She decided that the youthful idealism of, say, a 22-year-old English major might be nicely balanced by the experience and special skills of, say, an agricultural scientist in his mid-50's who did spot-welding in his spare time.
She pressed the search for volunteers with specific skills -- tending forests, stocking fish ponds, setting up sanitation systems -- and encouraged special arrangements with colleges and universities. Some colleges offered financial concessions to students with heavy debts if they joined the Peace Corps; others offered programs combining work on master's degrees with service in the corps.
On Jan. 10, 1985, Mrs. Ruppe went on national television to say that the Peace Corps was looking for 600 volunteers to do famine-relief work in Africa. Within a few days, more than 7,000 people contacted the agency.
Under Mrs. Ruppe, the Peace Corps developed short-term programs, enabling teachers, doctors and farmers to do volunteer work overseas while on sabbaticals or even long vacations. When Mrs. Ruppe became director, 3 percent of the volunteer were over age 50; six years later, 11 percent were.
During her tenure, Mrs. Ruppe (pronounced ROO-pee) visited volunteers in more than 60 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific where the Peace Corps was involved. The agency started new programs or restarted dormant ones in Sri Lanka, Haiti, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and Cape Verde.
Mrs. Ruppe drew praise from R. Sargent Shriver, the Democrat and Kennedy in-law who was the Peace Corps' first director.
''She's the kind of Republican we tried to recruit into management when we first started out,'' Mr. Shriver said in 1982.
Mrs. Ruppe had impeccable Republican credentials. Her husband, Philip, was a Republican Congressman from Michigan from 1967 to 1979. Mrs. Ruppe was Mr. Bush's campaign manager in the 1980 Michigan Presidential primary and was a leader of the Reagan-Bush campaign in Michigan that fall.
Mrs. Ruppe was born in Milwaukee. Her great-grandfather, Frederick Miller, founded the Miller Brewing Company. Her father, Frederick C. Miller, who had been captain of Notre Dame's 1928 football team, was the company chairman. He and a son, Frederick Jr., were killed in a plane crash in 1954.
Mrs. Ruppe attended Marymount College in Tarrytown, N.Y., and Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Surviving are her husband, whom she married in 1957; five daughters, Antoinette Greenberg, of Chicago; Adele, of Mexico City; Loret Jr., a former Peace Corps volunteer, of Davis, Calif.; Katherine, of Manhattan, and Mary, of Bethesda; five sisters, Clair Krause and Gail Wray, both of Mequon, Wis.; Kate, of Springfield, Ill.; Carlotta Johnson, of Britain, and Adele, of Brunswick, Me.; a brother, Carl Miller, of Miami, and three grandchildren.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Peace Corps Annual Report: 1996; Loret Ruppe Miller; Figures; Directors; Obituaries
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Story Source: New York Times
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