Ruth Behrens White

RUTH BEHRENS WHITE

1933-2024

NATICK, MA Ruth Behrens White passed away peacefully on July 23, 2024 at 91.  Her indomitable spirit brought her success and respect both professionally and personally.   Ruth was an open book.  She told everyone her truth, even when it was uncomfortable or unpopular.  Throughout her life, she acted without fear and with the courage of her convictions. 

Ruth grew up in Port Ewen, NY, a hamlet outside Kingston, in the Hudson Valley region where her family had lived for generations.  In church choirs and in choral ensembles at Kingston High School, she discovered and indulged her passion for singing.  Ruth went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in music from Cornell University, after which she pursued a brief career as a coloratura in the Ithaca Opera Company as well as a brief first marriage with a fellow singer. 

After the opera company folded, Ruth forged a new life and career path for herself.  She began at General Electric as a Greeter, hired to show dignitaries around the plant. Though Ruth loved to reminisce about the day she escorted actor Ronald Reagan around the premises, she was confident in her ability to be more.  As a single, divorced woman in the 1950s and 60s seeking to earn her own living, Ruth’s persistent self-advocacy in the face of workplace discrimination earned her the role of GE’s first female technical writer.  When Ruth left, GE hired three men to do her job, each at a higher salary.  

Ruth next accepted a position as society editor at the Ithaca Journal, where she met her second husband, John.  They left Ithaca to begin married life in Philadelphia, where Ruth first worked as an election poll worker, an expression of her entrenched belief in our American democratic system.  Throughout the rest of her life, as long as she was physically able, Ruth proudly served as an election worker and later as warden.    She never missed voting in any electionWhen John got a position at the Boston Globe, the couple then settled permanently in Natick to raise a family.  Ruth took a position as a technical writer at Honeywell, where she worked happily and successfully until her first child was born; in keeping with the times, Ruth left her job to raise her family. 

A staunch advocate of quality education, Ruth volunteered her time and her professional knowledge at every school her children attended.  Notably, she supported her children’s participation in Natick High School’s chapter of the German American Partnership Program (GAPP) for eight years. Ruth served on the steering committee as publicity chair, publishing press releases and feature stories about GAPP events in all the local and regional newspapers.  She and John hosted visiting Germans in their home and she accompanied students and teachers to Germany as a parent chaperone. Ruth nurtured these new friendships and continued to enjoy exchanging correspondence throughout the rest of her life. 

Ruth re-entered the workforce as a substitute teacher at Natick High School. During her 20 years of service, she utilized her talents in languages to provide thoughtful continuity of instruction while teachers were absent. Her dedication to helping students learn exemplified her approach to everything she did: she creatively and efficiently tried her hardest to do the best job she could, earning her colleagues’ respect. After she retired, she was invited to join the retired language teachers’ monthly luncheon, the only substitute teacher to be included.

In the late 1980s, Ruth and her husband divorced; she was also diagnosed with a rare form of Multiple Sclerosis, for which there was never to be any treatment during her lifetime.  Ruth handled that compounded adversity with aplomb.  She continued teaching, keeping active in politics, and enjoying concerts, plays, opera, and travel with family and friends. Ruth did not dwell on what she could NOT do, but rather just did what she COULD do. As long as she was able, she persevered, nurturing her lifelong friendships through constant correspondence.

Ruth is survived by her son, Christopher White, her daughter and son-in-law, Hilary and Steven Reis, her grandson, Gareth Reis, her niece, Sheryl Elkins, and numerous friends of old. Ruth was inurned alongside her parents, on a bucolic hillside in Riverview Cemetery, Port Ewen, NY, overlooking her beloved Hudson River.  A private celebration of Ruth’s life will be held on October 6, 2024, at Ken’s Steak House, in Natick. 

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