Ruth Newman
Ruth Beatrice Newman (nee Coulter) (2 July 1917 - 20 October 2016) was an award-winning pianist, homemaker, automobile insurance underwriter, and longtime widower from Canada.
Early life
Ruth was born in Calgary, Alberta, on 2 July 1917 to Reverend Joseph Coulter and Williamina Bessie Coulter. She was the fourth of seven children born to her father, a minister. Her father's job took her family on several moves during her childhood.
In 1931 she moved with her family to Manitoulin Island, Ontario, and then in 1935 to Toronto, where would remain for most of the rest of her life.
In 1938, Ruth's parents moved to Sunderland, so she began boarding at Milverton Boulevard, in Toronto. By coincidence (or not?) "Milverton" was also the name of the village where her father was born.
She received the Associate, Royal Conservatory Toronto (ARCT) teaching diploma in a ceremony on 21 October 1941. She received the prize for top marks that year.
Marriage and family
She married Bruce Newman on 10 October 1942 and had three children by him:
- Sandra Hugheen (born 5 August 1944)
- Evelyn Elaine Louise "Lynn" (born 19 July 1946)
- Mary Ann (born 30 July 1950)
Ruth named her first-born daughter's middle name after her brother Hubert Coulter who had died 7 May 1943 in WWII.
Ruth named her second-born daughter after her brother Everett Coulter who had died 20 February 1944 in WWII.
Ruth and Bruce were active in the church during their marriage. Ruth often played the piano for the church until a full-time accompaniest was hired. After she was widowed, Ruth stopped going to church, perhaps because she did not want to face all those people anymore, according to her daughter Mary Ann.
Ruth has 10 grandchildren:
- By Sandra: Megan, Meredith, Laura, Patrick
- By Evelyn: Alexander, Vanessa, Andrew, Stephen
- By Mary Ann: Michael, Carolyn
As of 2018 she has 9 great-grandchildren:
- By Meredith: Charlotte, Aria (born 6 July 2016)
- By Vanessa: Brynn (born 6 January 2014)
- By Andrew: Benjamin, Holly, Dominic, Bridget
- By Carolyn: Cole, Bentley (both born 31 December 2017)
Thus, all her blood descendants remain alive, and they number 3 + 10 + 9 = 22.
Timeline
| Date | Age | Domicile | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 July 1917 | 0 | Calgary, Alberta | Born |
| July 1923 | 6 | Jasper Park, Edmonton, Alberta | Moves |
| July 1927 | 10 | Little Current, Manitoulin Island | Moves |
| July 1931 | 14 | Scarborough Junction, Toronto, Ontario | Moves |
| July 1933 | 16 | Obtained Driver's License | |
| 21 June 1938 | 20 | Ruth sits for the Grade 10 Royal Conservatory piano exam | |
| July 1938 | 21 | Milverton Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario | Parents moved to Sunderland, so she began boarding at Milverton Boulevard |
| 19 June 1941 | 23 | Ruth sits for the Royal Conservatory ARCT piano exam | |
| July 1941 | 24 | Parents moved to Waverly Boulevard, to retire when father was 70. They inherited $7000 from the hermit (!) bachelor uncle of mother. Grandmother came to live with them. | |
| 21 October 1941 | 24 | Royal Conservatory ARCT Concovation Ceremony; Ruth wins the top prize for the top marks. | |
| 17 March 1942 | 24 | St Patrick's Day Dance; Ruth plays piano for the event; this was the day she met her future husband Bruce Newman | |
| June 1942 | 24 | Engaged to be married to Bruce | |
| 10 October 1942 | 25 | Marries Bruce Newman | |
| October 1942 | 25 | 2040 Gerrard Street East, Toronto | Rents flat at Gerrard Street East |
| July 1944 | 27 | Bungalow on Sutherland Avenue, Leaside, Don Mills | Purchases a house |
| 5 August 1944 | 27 | Sandra Hugheen born. | |
| 4 March 1945 | 27 | At Hart House, Ruth plays the piano at the wedding of her oldest sibling, Flight Officer Wes Coulter. | |
| 19 July 1946 | 29 | Evelyn Elaine Louise "Lynn" born. | |
| 18 July 1948 | 31 | Mother died of complications during gall bladder surgery. Grandmother died soon after, "of a broken heart." | |
| July 1949 | 32 | Appleby Road in Islington (later Etobicoke, now Toronto) | Moves because Bruce was headhunted for a job with HEPCO (now Ontario Hydro) |
| 30 July 1950 | 33 | Mary Ann born | |
| July 1954 | 37 | #9 Chelford Street, Don Mills | Moves since Bruce went back to Sangamo Company |
| 16 March 1960 | 43 | Father dies | |
| 1963 | 46 | Guelph (University Street) | Moves to Guelph for one year. Mary Ann spends her Grade 9 year at Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI) [1]. |
| 1964 | 46 | Tan Valley, Toronto | Moves back to Toronto for three years, to a "beautiful house!" - Ruth. Mary Ann attends Don Mills Collegiate Institute [2] for grades 10 to 12. |
| Summer 1967 | 50 | Guelph. (College Street; this home was owned.) | Moves back to Guelph. Mary Ann returns to GCVI to do her Grade 13 year, which she does not complete; instead she begins university early at the University of Guelph, moves into residence in April 1968. |
| 27 June 1968 | 50 | Bruce dies. Ruth spends several weeks in a psychiatric hospital. | |
| September 1968 | 51 | Bonaview Towers, 18 The Donway East, Don Mills, Ontario | Moves into a second-floor apartment, where she will live for over 41 years. |
| 1977 - 1987 | 60 - 70 | Her ten grandchildren are born. | |
| July 1982 | 65 | Visits Thunder Bay for a few weeks/months to help her daughter Mary Ann raise her son, infant Michael Currie | |
| Circa 2002 | 85 | Stops driving her very old white car (model?) | |
| 2003 January to April, September to December | 86 | Ruth lets her grandson Michael Currie live with her in the second bedroom. | |
| March 2010 | 92 | Greenview Lodge, 880 Lawrence Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario | A series of strokes forced her to be moved out of her longtime residence in Don Mills. She initially moved to Greenview Lodge, 880 Lawrence Avenue East, just up the street from her apartment. |
| Later in 2010 | 93 | Allendale Long Term Care [], 185 Ontario Street South, Milton, Ontario | Moved to long-term care facility, with frequent visits and extra care provided by her daughter Sandra, who was living and working nearby. |
| 20 October 2016 | 99 | Dies. |
Life as a widow
On 27 June 1968, after 25 years of marriage, Ruth was widowed when Bruce died suddenly of a heart attack at age 50. She never remarried. Ruth kept a photo of Bruce by her bedside for the rest of her life.
Following the shock of Bruce's death Ruth could not cope, so she checked into the psychiatric hospital in Guelph for several weeks. She received several sessions of electroconvulsive therapy [3]. Her oldest daughter Sandra took care of the details of selling the house in Guelph and taking care of Bruce's estate.
From September 1968 to March 2010, she lived on her own in a rented second-floor apartment in Bonaview Tower(s?), 18 The Donway East, in Don Mills, Ontario. Her phone number for those years was 416 444 6583. Having moved a dozen times in her life, perhaps she was tired of decamping on a regular basis, and so she chose to remain in place for a long time. Her commute to work from Bonaview Tower to Foresters House was just seven minutes by car south on Don Mills Road.
Late-life career
In September 1968, Ruth took a job at General Accident (?), an automobile insurance company. At the age of 51, she had to make ends meet, and this was her first job since her piano-playing and piano-teaching days 25 years earlier. Ruth had no work experience but she had an incredible work ethic and an aptitude for numbers. She started at the bottom, working secretarial tasks, earning only about $3,000 per year initially. But she worked very hard, and "enjoyed going to work immensely", according to Mary Ann. She would even take work home with her. She didn't take courses, but eventually she was promoted to be an automobile insurance underwriter. During those 13 years of work she worked out of the Foresters House [4] in Don Mills, where General Accident had their offices. Foresters House had just been completed in 1967, the year before Ruth started work. It is just across from the Ontario Science Centre.
My mother grew up in an era when women were not expected to have careers, they were expected to stay home and raise the children. I don't think she was unhappy as a housewife but I do think she would have been happier and really enjoyed having a career when she was younger. She would have made a fantastic accountant - she had a great aptitude for numbers. The man who hired her in 1968 at General Accident was taking a risk from his perspective but it paid off since she was very hard-working.
— Mary Ann Currie, private conversation with Michael Currie, 28 July 2019
She retired early, at 64, in 1981, to travel to Kelowna, British Columbia, to help raise her grandson Alex Atherton. She stayed there for several weeks. She also did the same thing later in 1982 when she travelled to Thunder Bay to help raise her newborn grandson Michael Currie for several weeks.
Ruth decided not to continue to teach piano after her time doing it in the 1940s, despite her obvious skill and aptitude with it.
"It was always a puzzle to me. She was not just normal at piano, she was gifted. And she went into teaching. But she said it bothered her nerves. I think she suffered from stress and anxiety while teaching and so she stopped doing it."
— Mary Ann Currie, conversation with Michael Currie, 28 July 2019
Retirement
After retirement, she continued to lead a tightly-regimented, independent life at her second-floor apartment. Her apartment frequently served as the meeting-point or stopover for her daughters and their families, and she would receive these immediate family visitors on a frequent basis.
Somewhat oddly, she did not frequently visit or socialize with others beyond her daughters and grandchildren. She had several siblings within a few minutes' drive but she only infrequently saw them (perhaps once a year or less, at appointed family gatherings).
She had a close friendship with her stepfather's second wife Virginia Worstell of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They were both widowed around the same time, and in the 1970s and 1980s they took trips together by train.
She enjoyed word search puzzles, and watching the news, and daily telephone calls with her daughters. She had several books by Pierre Burton, including 1967: The Last Good Year, which might have held some special significance in her mind given that this was the last year before the death of her husband.
On 1 July 2007 she celebrated her 90th birthday at her daughter Sandra's home in Speyside, Ontario, between 13:00 and 17:00. The invitation letter to the family, from granddaughter Megan Kenzie, read in part:
The 90th Birthday of Everyone’s Favourite Relative:
Our lady of Don Mills, The Former High Jump Champion of Manitoulin Island, Piano Player Extraordinaire, Mother of the Newman Girls, Grandma, Great-Grandma, sister, sister-in-law, aunt…
Ruth Newman !
— Megan Kenzie, July 2007
Illness and death
She was healthy and lived independently until age 92, in early 2010.
Other than vertigo, she had no major health issues despite not doing any exercise other than walking from her apartment to the nearby mall and back to get groceries every few days. She had vertigo from the late 1990s until her death. In early 2010 she had a series of strokes and her mental health was gone. However, she remained physically well, if weak, until her final days.
In March 2010, a series of strokes forced her to be moved out of her longtime residence in Don Mills. She experienced severe damage to her ability to manage her emotions, as well as to remember anyone. She retained her ability to play intellectual games like word searches, and she would complete dozens of these puzzles a week until the end of her life. She also gradually lost the ability to speak.
She initially moved to Greenview Lodge, 880 Lawrence Avenue East, just up the street from her apartment.
The mothers have gone through everything from Grandma's apartment. Some stuff has gone with her. Special/valuable/nostalgic/useful items have been distributed between the mothers. Attached are a few photos of some of the things that are left. See following email for second set of pics. We are trying to clear most things out of the apartment this week, and the rest by mid-April. Let me know if you want anything you see here, and we will keep it.
— Email, Megan Kenzie, 21 March 2010
Later in 2010, she moved to Allendale Long Term Care Facility, in Milton Ontario. She remained there for the next six years, with frequent visits and extra care provided by her daughter Sandra, who was living and working nearby.
She died 20 October 2016, at age 99, in her 100th year.
Sources
Self
Timeline was described to her grandson Michael Currie personally in 2003.