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‘Old
Bristlecone’
Ted Ruhig Enjoyed Long History of Senior Advocacy
Long-time Spectrum columnist Ted Ruhig died Friday, May 18 in Ohio at age 95. Though Mr. Ruhig and his wife Nan moved to Ohio in 2005 to be near their daughter and family, he continued writing his weekly column for Spectrum for some time.
CLICK
HERE TO READ SELECTED TED RUHIG COLUMNS
PUBLISHED IN SENIOR-SPECTRUM
During
his 30 years in Sacramento Ruhig enjoyed a long and
distinguished history of community service at the local,
regional and national levels. He served with
the Gray Panthers of Sacramento, the Older Women’s League, the Carmichael
and state chapters of AARP, the Council of Sacramento Senior Organizations,
the Congress of California Seniors, the National Silver-Haired Congress
and many
more.
Ruhig, who taught aging infrastructure to nursing home and allied personnel
at American River College, was named Poet Laureate of the California Senior
Legislature
while serving as a founding member and its first chair. He was a founding vice
chair of the Area 4 Joint Powers Board, and was a chair of the Sacramento County
Commission on Aging.
On May 21, 2002, Ruhig received a resolution from the Sacramento County Board
of Supervisors for his service as chair of the In-Home Supportive Services
Advisory Committee, and his service on the California Senior Legislature.
County Supervisor Muriel Johnson called Ruhig “the glue that holds
the senior advocacy network together.”
“These activities gave me much satisfaction and suffused my inner psyche
with a poetic serenity by giving worthwhile purpose to my life,” Ruhig
noted in one column.
David Kline, who edited Ruhig's columns for more than 12 years as editor of
Capitol News Service and Spectrum, remembered Ruhig not just as a tireless
advocate for
the causes he believed in, but as a devoted family man who trumpeted the achievements
of his wife, an accomplished pianist, and cheered the successes of their children
and grandchildren.
"We were decades apart in age, and miles apart in terms of our political
views, but we became good friends and had fun debating the issues of the day,
telling jokes, talking baseball, and keeping each other up to date on our families," Kline
said. "I've never met anyone with as much passion for improving the
lives of seniors."
Kline noted that Ruhig took great pride in living a very healthy lifestyle
so that he would be able to continue his advocacy for as many years as
possible. "He
celebrated birthdays with poems and great fanfare, and always said that his goal
was to live to 100," Kline said. "It's sad to know that he fell
a few years short of that goal, but he packed more than 100 years' worth
of work into
his life, and many of his accomplishments will benefit seniors for the
next 100 years."
“Dad did indeed have a long productive life,” said Ruhig’s
daughter Rosemary Du Mont, “Even after he moved here to Ohio, he
served as a mentor to undergraduates majoring in gerontology at Kent State.
He had
poetry readings at the local public library, He continued to write his
Spectrum column.
He took classes at the University, just to keep busy. He accompanied us
to plays, the symphony, and on trips to visit grandchildren. He continued
to
enrich our
lives for the five years he lived with us.”
A memorial service was held at Du Mont’s home on Saturday, May 19.
This page and its contents ©2012 Metropolitan News Company, Inc.
