Honoring the Memory
of Those
We Love

April 3, 1929 - February 21, 2016

Zulka, Ruth Marie Nowicki Beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, died Sunday, February 21, 2016, at the Baptist Homes, where she had lived for the past year. "Pink," as she was known to family and friends, was 86.

Born April 3, 1929, to Ludwig Nowicki and Mary Laskowska Nowicki of Pittsburgh, she grew up on the city's South Side among many friends and relatives who, like her parents, immigrated to America from Poland. She married Edward J. Zulka in 1946 after he returned from service in the European Theater during World War II. They made their home in Pittsburgh and became the parents of three daughters. Upon entering the workforce, Ruth joined the accounting department of Gimbels Department Store and later worked for the Spiegel Catalogue Co. and United Dairy Farmers Co-op. She was a lifelong member of St. Adalbert Catholic Church on the South Side. In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by six brothers, Frank New Sr., Stanley Newe, Chester Peters, Walter Peters, Louis Nowicki and Edward Nowicki, all of Pittsburgh. Survivors include her daughters and sons-in-law, Ruthann and Richard Zenk of Manchester, MD, Cheryl and Chuck Carr of Brentwood, Gail and Dale McKillop of Shelby, NC.; grandchildren, Megan and Brandon Heaps of Sykesville, MD, Rebecca and Ethan Hagerty of Baldwin, S. Sgt. Nathan Carr, serving with the United States Marine Corps in Kuwait, Jordan and Suzanne McKillop of Alexandria, VA, Ian and Kristen McKillop of Kernersville, NC, great-grandchildren, Benjamin and Logan Heaps of Sykesville, MD, Anderson Hagerty of Baldwin and Mollie McKillop of Kernersville, NC. Friends will be received at the John F. Slater Funeral Home, Inc., 412-881-4100, 4201 Brownsville Road, Brentwood 15227, Wednesday, February 24, 2016, from 3-8 p.m. Funeral Prayer on Thursday morning at 9:00. Mass of Christian Burial in St. Adalbert Church, 81 S. 13th St., at 10:00 a.m. Interment to follow in St. Adalbert Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to a charity of one's choice.