“Grandma Ruth”, as she was known to so many, was the quintessential grandmother. Cheerful, supportive, loving, protective, confidant, loyal, generous and so much more. Mother to daughters Sally Ostrom White and Lois Ostrom Weiland Marcus and Grandma to Sally and Roy’s children, Maury , Barb and Danny White and to Lois and Gary’s children, Beth, Ben and Susie Marcus, Great Grandmother to Ben, Andy and Alex Reed, Emily, Maddie and Henry White, Alison and Jacob White, _____________ Gordon, ______Hannah and Sophia Marcus, Jake and Ari Liebenson. She was Grandma Ruth to all of their friends as well.
Born sometime around December 12 in approximately 1907 (she died December 25, 2010 with 21 great grandchildren) in Indianapolis, Indiana (the Courthouse records were lost so no one is quite sure when she was born), she was the baby of the family, with three older sisters, Bertha H. Frankel (Jacobson (born Friedman), Emma Glicksburg (born Friedman) and Madeline Fine (born Friedman).
Ruth’s first husband was Benjamin (Bernard) Selig Ostrom, who died on April 2, 1949. Her second husband was Frederick Weiland, who died on December 16, 1973.
Her parents were David Friedman and Dina V. Friedman (born Weinburg).
As illustrated by the following story, her father was a baker and her mother was a homemaker. Ruth lived 103 magnificent years, serving as a role model to all her knew her.
| Thanks to Ruth’s daughter, Lois Marcus. I think we are all familiar with one of grandmas favorite stories. The one she told of how she – just by the slimmest of chances – missed out on being the matzo queen. You know, It goes like this. Her grandfather Louis Weinberg had a bakery, the Weinberg bakery, and his partner was none other than Mr. Manishevitz. One day, the two partners decided to split the business. Given the choice of continuing in the bakery business or entering into the matzo baking business, Louis decided to keep the bakery, and our potential matzo queen was left to inhale the dreaded fumes of the the bakery donuts and dream of what might have been But, you know as well as I, it didn’t require the manishevitz fortune to make Razel into a queen, She was born for the job. Her beauty, grace, intellect and style all placed her high, high above the commonplace. Outspoken and certain, she was never shy about telling you how she felt about politics, religion, fashion, or most anxiety provoking, how she felt about you Roy used to jokingly refer to grandma Ruth as “the general”. But this general earned her stars thru her deep love and commitment to her family. She really knew and loved each Grandchild and great grand child for who they were as individuals and valued and nurtured the strengths in each of them. Her indefagible spirit was never more evident than when she went shopping. As Gloria and Mike can attest, when, on one of the many trips they took together, if Grandma Ruth ever showed signs of fatigue, just the slightest suggestion that a fabulous jewelry shop was only a bock and a half away, would be all the encouragement she needed to go on for hours. Her taste was impeccable, and to watch her try on clothes was like being treated to a Broadway show. She was a natural star. I once read this saying,”if G-d sets you on a steep path,he gives you strong shoes “well, grandma had some steep challenges in her life, all of which she confronted bravely and without self pity- and although her shoes were always Ferragamos she strode forward in life with gusto, humor and Unique vigor. Gary used to say she was one in a million, and as she aged he kept revising his figures to one in twenty million, one in forty million. She was a force of nature. |
Ruth married Benjamin (Bernard) Ostrom of Chicago when she ______ years old. They lived in Cincinnati, Ohio where he practiced dentistry. Together they had two daughters. Sally Lee Ostrom and Lois Ann Ostrom. Ben loved life and Ruth right along with him. Ben enjoyed playing cards and the good life. He wore a gold wristwatch with gold band and tented crystal which is now worn on special occasions by his granddaughter, Barbara White Reed, who received it from Ruth on her 21st birthday. Unfortunately, Ben died young, at age ____, from ________ ,leaving Ruth to raise their children alone after their approximately 25 year marriage. Ruth sold real estate to help make ends meet, although she said that she would sell a house and then buy a new dress.
Eventually, Ruth met Fred Weiland, a widower, fell in love and got married a second time. Fred adopted Lois, but not Sally as Lois was much younger. Fred was a successful attorney as well as an entrepreneur. He and a group of friends regularly invested in businesses which would ultimately be sold.
Fred died from a heart attack in 1973 while Ruth was in California visiting her daughter Lois, son-in law, Gary Marcus and their three children, Beth, Ben and Susie.
Ruth was very involved in the lives of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She took each one of her grandchildren (and granddaughter in laws) on numerous trips. For example, she went England with Barb when she turned 21 and took her on many trips to New York and Chicago to see Broadway shows and art museums. She also spent lots of time with her great grandchildren. She went to their school activities, shared many, many meals with them, traveled with them and was always their friend and confidant.
One of Grandma Ruth’s investments was a movie theatre in Bardstown, Kentucky. At some point in time the theatre stopped doing particularly well but her son-in-law, Roy was able to sell it at a handsome price to someone who wanted to turn it into night club.
Ruth loved to travel and she took lots of trips all over the world with Lois and Gary. She had very active social life-playing cards, going to the symphony and out to dinner with friends. She was very outgoing and gregarious, making friends out of strangers everywhere she went.
Ruth did not want to move out of her home as she aged so she lived out her life in her beautiful condominium with round the clock help her last few years. She and Fred moved into The Regency, located at 2444 Madison Road, when it was built. She loved to decorate and not only was her home an amazing place, but she also helped many other family members and friends decorate their homes as well. Ruth helped redecorate Barb’s sorority suite at Miami University only to find out that the couches she sent out to be re-covered had been stolen. Ruth got the decorator helping her with the project to build new couches and the sorority girls never even had a clue. In retrospect, Grandma pulled over a few fast ones-As a young child, Sally loved her dog, Tippy. Her dog did not have a long life span however so rather than let Sally be brokenhearted about the death of her dog, Ruth replaced it several times with identical dogs without Sally’s knowledge. She maintained her sense of humor until the end.
Our Family-Our History 