Patricia Ruth (Raney) Pogue

Patricia Ruth (Raney) Pogue passed away on Saturday, February 25, of complications from Parkinson’s Disease. She was 91.

Pat grew up in Bowling Green Ohio and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan, where she met law student Richard W. (“Dick”) Pogue. They married in 1954 and, after living in the Washington, D.C. area for three years, moved to Cleveland in 1957. She devoted the rest of her life to her family and to civic, cultural, and educational causes in Cleveland. 

Pat will be especially remembered for her role in welcoming newcomers to Shaker Heights. For 38 years, she was the Shaker Heights Welcome Wagon Lady, welcoming thousands of newcomers to town.  She loved helping new residents find whatever they needed to feel at home, whether it was a French-speaking piano-tuner, a swing-set fixer, a mothers-of-twins club, or any other specific request. 

Pat was a loyal and long-term public servant: she served on the PTA boards of Boulevard, Woodbury and Shaker Heights High schools, as well as on the Shaker Heights PTA Council. She also served on the local boards of Planned Parenthood and the League of Women Voters, and volunteered with the Women’s Committee of the Cleveland Institute of Music. 

For over 50 years, Pat was a devoted congregant at Plymouth Church, where she served on various committees and volunteered with the Interfaith Hospitality Network program.

She was also devoted to such social organizations as the Colony Garden Club, the Cleveland Alumnae Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, the Lecture Recital Club, the Women’s Association of St. Luke’s Hospital, P.E.O., and the Intown Club. 

But she directed her greatest energies to helping the less fortunate. She volunteered for Head Start, the Neighboring Program at Fairhill Mental Health Hospital, and Project LEARN. She taught students to read at Buckeye-Woodland School, hosted disadvantaged children during the summer at her home, and worked with the women of the Sleeping Bag Ministry, who made sleeping bags for unhoused people.

Pat will be remembered for her selflessness, humility, high standards, grit, sense of humor, her lifelong dedication to her children, and her game-themed parties. 

She is survived by her husband of 68 years, Dick Pogue; her three children, Mark (Janine), Tracy (Michael), and David (Nicki); her eight grandchildren, Chris, Emily, Sydney, Laura, Richard, Kell, Tia, and Jeffrey; her great-grandson Davis; and her niece, Kelly Raney Thompson. She was preceded in death by her brother, Dana Raney, and by her parents, Jack and Peggy Raney.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Plymouth Church https://onrealm.org/PlymouthChurchS/give/now or Habitat for Humanity International  Habitat for Humanity Online Donation 

A memorial service will be held at 2:00pm on May 7, 2023 at Plymouth Church, 2860 Coventry Road, Shaker Heights, with a reception to follow.