Life lessons from the bakery; Ruth Person

January is a month of birthdays for the women in our family.  My mother and myself have birthday’s a day apart. Ruth Person, who strongly influenced how we nourish and entertain our family and friends, was also born in January. Last January, on what was her 95th birthday, I had a “words to remember”, conversation with Ruth. 

Ruth came into the life of my family as a caterer’s helper. This was back in the early 1950’s, before I was born, likely helping out at our Passover Seder. 

Passover was my Gamma Lill’s event of the year. She was one of eight children, and Passover was the one time of year she was able to host her entire family and many more.

As the years passed Ruth took over the catering business that she started with a partner, and employed other wonderful women and men who would come into our lives for just a few memorable hours a year.

She worked for many notable people, but one of her most cherished relationships was with the Episcopal Church’s Bishop of Chicago, James Montgomery, pictured here with Ruth at her 90th birthday party. 

My Gram was a pretty good cook, so she would do the bulk of the cooking and have other capable women in the kitchen help her create our Seder. No matter how you prepare for it there are lots of different dishes, many plates, and a full meal with dessert to pull off in a few hours. Some sort of roasted fowl, sloshing bowls of matzah ball soup, gefilte fish, harosis, rugelach. Ruth was there, working elbow to elbow with my Gram to make sure the cooking was superb and this complicated meal came off without a hitch, for a very descending crowd.  

Ruth was there in my Gramma Lill’s home, until my Mom took over the Seder. My family moved to Pittsburgh in 1973, and by then Ruth Person had been at every family celebration, Passover, Shiva, party, basically all of our life cycle events, as well as business entertaining, which my parents did a great deal of at home. 

What she created was always more than food or presentation, it was about serving up love.

When we spoke she said something that gave me pause. She told me that she has pictures of all of us as small kids, and she said that we always treated her as family. I reminded her of what she taught me and what I still try to do today;

“Don’t waste what’s left, use everything, and be sure to get as much as possible out of the bowl. Clean as you go! And always serve with grace and love.”

Happy Birthday Ruth you’ve taught me much, I love you.