Ruth Newman
Ruth Beatrice Newman (nee Coulter) (1 July 1917 - 20 October 2016) was an award-winning pianist, insurance claims adjuster, and longtime widower from Canada.
Early life
Ruth was born in Calgary, Alberta, on 1 July 1917 to Reverend Joseph Coulter and Williamina Bessie Coulter.
She received the Associate, Royal Conservatory Toronto (ARCT) teaching diploma in a ceremony in 1941. She received the prize for top marks that year.
Marriage and family
She married Bruce Newman in the 1940s and had three children by him:
Later life
She lived from about 1970 until 2010 on her own in an apartment in Don Mills, Ontario. Her phone number for that time was 416 444 6583.
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…whatever…
Ruth Newman !
— Megan Kenzie, July 2007
In 2010, 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.
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
Death
She died 20 October 2016.
Sources
Self