Memorial & Celebration of Life

Jewel's Service Information and Obituary

Thank you all for your continued prayers, offerings, and outpouring of love.

On Saturday, June 14th, visitation will begin at 9:00am with a Memorial & Celebration of Life at 11:00am at New Beginnings Alliance Church, 35 DeGarmo Road, Poughkeepsie. A lunch reception at the church will follow the service and all are invited. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Mid-Hudson Love INC, 748 Freedom Plains Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 or online.

Additionally, we are asking you to share your favorite photos of/with Jewel throughout the years. The family would like to use some of these photos to display at the Memorial & Celebration of Life. Please share these photos in one of two ways: uploaded to the website dropevent.com/JewelRatzlaff or sent to the email address JewelRatzlaff@dropevent.com.

If you have a memory, tribute, inspiration, admiration, lesson learned, personal impact, or other reflection you’d like to share about Jewel, please do so in the blog comments below or share privately with the family via email at jewel.ratzlaff@gmail.com.

This post would not be complete without a list of Jewel’s favorite places to take visitors. If you are traveling from out of town, we encourage you to enjoy any of the following:

• Walkway Over the Hudson

  • This bridge, once for trains, is now a Rail Trail that offers spectacular views of the Hudson River & Poughkeepsie skyline

• DIA Beacon

  • Modern Art Museum located on the Hudson River

• Culinary Institute of America (CIA)

  • Premier Culinary Institute in Hyde Park with restaurants open to the public, including favorite Apple Pie Bakery Cafe

• Vanderbilt Mansion

  • Beautiful historic mansion and grounds in Hyde Park open for tours

• Franklin D. Roosevelt House and FDR Presidential Library & Museum

  • Two different Museums, both located in Hyde Park

• Casa Ortega (Wappingers Falls) and Maya Cafe (Fishkill)

  • Two of Jewel’s favorite Mexican restaurants

• La Sorella and Fishkill Creamery

  • Newer favorites in Fishkill, both good for a sweet treat

You can find Jewel’s Obituary below or online through McHoul Funeral Home here.

EAST FISHKILL - Jewel S.G. Ratzlaff, 69, an area resident since 1990 and formerly of Connecticut, Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania, died on June 3, 2025 surrounded by her immediate family.

Born in Quakertown, PA on November 1, 1955, she was the daughter of the late Norman and Mianna (Eisenhart) Geissinger. She graduated from Goshen College, taught high school math, and later studied theatre at Michigan State University. After moving east, she took on multiple roles at WMNR radio in Connecticut and subsequently became the program director at WFUV in NYC. Before retiring in 2022, Jewel was employed as the Public Information Officer for the Poughkeepsie Public Library where she spearheaded the community wide Big Read project.

Jewel was a member of the New Beginnings Alliance Church in Poughkeepsie where she served as the choir director and was very active in church life. In 2009, she co-founded Mid-Hudson Love in the Name of Christ (Love INC), an organization that builds relationships with people in need to encourage transformation. There, she passionately served as board chair, furniture delivery coordinator, volunteer coordinator, event planner, and teacher. She directed and acted in plays with the County Players and volunteered with Literacy Volunteers of America. Jewel loved playing the piano, baking, reading, playing games, and gardening. In 2023, Jewel was honored as the Woman of the Year by the American Association of University Women. Most recently, she enjoyed adventures to the Pacific Northwest, Iceland, and China, as well as trips to dote on her treasured grandchildren.

Jewel is survived by her husband, Eugene H. Ratzlaff; her daughter, Caitlin Harris; her son, Lucas Ratzlaff; her grandson, Oliver and granddaughter, Chandler; her siblings, Ladnor, Cordell, Glenn and Timothy Geissinger, and Tanya Shealey; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.