HEINZ, RUTH ELLSWORTH OLMSTED, 91, wife, mother, grandmother, great- grandmother, sister, aunt, neighbor, teacher and friend, passed away peacefully on Thursday morning, March 1, 2007. "Ruthie" was the youngest of Elmer S. and Elizabeth Cook Olmsted's five children, born September 20, 1915 in Louisville, several years after the family relocated here from Somerville, MA. She grew up in the then-suburb of Beechmont, in the home credited as the source of the neighborhood's name. She attended Louisville Girls High School and continued her education at The University of Louisville where she spent two years as president of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and graduated with the Class of 1936½ with a major in home economics. A musician by avocation, she played piano as a vocal accompanist and with chamber groups, and sang in several choirs. On December 31, 1941 she married Frank C. Heinz Jr. who, before their first anniversary, was called up into military service. They wrote each other daily until his safe return from the battlefields of The European Theater in 1945. When their three children were grown, her PTA and Den Mother days behind her, she went to work at the U of L Dental School where she taught nutrition to dental hygiene students and became part of the treatment planning staff. She lived in the family's Crescent Hill home from 1949 until recently when she moved to Masonic Home. At her home she took special pleasure in her kitchen and in her bird-filled flower and herb gardens, enjoying them most when she shared them with others. She was an accomplished needlewoman and seamstress, a prize- winning photographer and faithful keeper of family history. She was preceded in death by her husband; brothers, Sheridan, Clifford and Laurance "Tody" Olmsted; sister Elizabeth "Sis" Olmsted Carter; niece, Beverly Carter Meyer; and great-grandson, Ezra Olmsted Heinz. Surviving are her three children and their families, Frank C. Heinz III (Dianne) of Arlington, TX, children Tammy Heinz (companion James Flores), grandson Greyson Heinz- Flores; Frank C. Heinz IV of Arlington TX; Leslie Heinz Stovall (Brad) and newborn (March 1) grandson, Jack, of Austin, TX; Rosalind E. Heinz ,of Louisville; Laurence B. Heinz (Barbara) of West Chester, OH and children, Todd (Jennifer) and grandson Isaiah, of Durham, NC, Adam (Jennifer) and grandchildren Blake, Kaleb, Abigail, Evan and Elijah of West Chester, OH, nieces, Betty Olmsted Zeller and Judie Milby Klinglesmith, of Louisville, Shirley Olmsted Love, of Columbus, OH and Gail Carter Fugerson, of Gig Harbor, WA; and nephew ,David C. Holt, of Cheyenne, WY. The family offers special thanks to all those who have loved and cared for Ruth during her life, especially during her final years: Masonic Home staff in Louisville and the caregivers from Hospice. Visitation: 4-7 p.m. Friday, March 16, 2007 at Crescent Hill United Methodist Church, with a memorial service there at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 17, 2007. Interment is private at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery. The family requests remembrances to the Olmsted Parks Conservancy, a source of family as well as civic pride for her; the Kentucky Humane Society, which provided Sassy, the loving little terrier who was the light of her final years; Hospice and Palliative Care of Louisville, who bridged her crossing; or her church, Crescent Hill United Methodist, a lifelong well of strength and hope. Condolences may be expressed at www.thefrederick funeralhome.com
Published in The Courier-Journal on 3/5/2007.