Ruth STEWART

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STEWART: Ruth Mae Stewart- August 26, 1915 – November 16, 2014. Ruth was born in Killarney, the second of six children of farmers Rachel and Stanley Rigby. Ruth went first to Oak Ridge School, then to high school in Ninga. Ruth trained as a nurse in Winnipeg, and worked in Vita in South-East Manitoba where she met and married doctor David Bradshaw Stewart. Ruth had to give up nursing, as that time married women could not get jobs as nurses. While serving in the Air Force in Britain in World War II, Dave became interested in research being done by a doctor in Scotland. After the war he got a job at a medical school at Aberdeen, and was joined there by Ruth and their three children. Their fourth child was born in Scotland. Dave was then chosen to be a Professor in a new medical school starting up in Jamaica, and the family moved there in 1952. Ruth was active in a number of organisations in Jamaica, including the YWCA, the Family Planning Program, and a school for the deaf. After a polio outbreak she volunteered at a centre for the rehabilitation of victims of the disease. Ruth and Dave enjoyed hiking in the hills of Jamaica, and were enthusiastic and knowledgeable bird- watchers. Ruth had a number of hobbies and became a fairly proficient potter. Funding from the World Health Organization made it possible for Dave to attend global medical conferences, so Ruth and Dave went to Austria, Argentina, India and several other countries over the years. They arranged to travel through other countries in every continent they visited, so they saw quite a lot of the world. Ruth and Dave returned to Canada in 1971 when Dave retired. They went by ship to Panama, and then drove to Canada in a second-hand Volkswagen beetle, seeing even more of the world along the way. They bought a property on Lake Lorne near Killarney and had a house built to their own design. Their unusual house had a large workshop for Dave’s woodwork and Ruth’s pottery. Dave got a job in the Zoology department at Brandon University, and the house on the Pembina Valley became a popular hangout for biologists and their students. Dave and Ruth were involved in banding birds, managing blue bird nests and other projects. They were sorry to leave their beautiful property when age made it necessary to move into Killarney. Ruth was active in the Women’s Institute and on the board of the J.A.V. David Museum, but eventually had to give these up. After Dave died in 2006, Ruth was able to stay in her house with help for a time, but then had to move into Bayside Personal Care Home. For many years Ruth and Dave were committed members of organizations promoting environmental protection and World peace. For her many contributions, Ruth was made a life member of the YWCA, the Women’s Institute, and the Association of Manitoba Museums. Ruth Stewart died on 16 November 2014 at the age of 99. She is mourned by her four children and their families, and by many other relatives and friends.

As published in Brandon Sun on Nov 25, 2014