On September 30, 2000, Ruth Walther arrived from
Tampa, Florida, to become a member of the Brooks-Howell family.
When she was six weeks old, her family moved from Mineral Point,
Wisconsin, to Plattville, Wisconsin, where she grew up. She had
one brother and one sister.By the time she was in the eighth grade she wanted to be an overseas missionary. She applied to the Women's Division when she was still too young; so she taught math for two years in Wisconsin. From there in 1948 she was appointed to Allen High School, here in Asheville, where she was a teacher, principal and/or superintendent. She taught until the school closed in 1974. To help the students adjust to desegregation she worked in Asheville City Schools for one year. Then she served as Assistant Principal at the South French Broad Junior High School for a year before returning to United Methodist mission work.
In 1976 Ruth reported to St. Paul's United Methodist School in Tampa, Florida, to the position of Executive Director. This inner city school served mostly blacks and Cubans. After her retirement in 1989 she remained in Tampa. Volunteer activities included coordinating transportation for the Red Cross and holding United Methodist Women offices. She was District UMW President for four years and Conference Communications Coordinator for four years. She also served as Registrar for the Conference School of Mission and for the Conference Spiritual Retreats, two years each. Ruth took H&R Block tax training and volunteered for the AARP Tax-Aide Program--but they didn't accept H&R Block tax trained persons for some reason, so she worked with H & R Block for eleven years.
Ruth likes to read, and in the past has enjoyed needlework: crewel, needlepoint, cross stitch, and knitting an Afghan. "I'm very happy to be here. It's like coming home, since I was in Asheville and watched Brooks-Howell come into being. I knew I'd come here eventually."