Ruth Elizabeth Epstein was born in Lynn, MA on January 8, 1921 to Louis and Blanche Feldman. During the Great Depression on the eve of World War II, Ruth trained to be a registered nurse at Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Upon graduation, an Army recruiter promised Ruth and four of her classmates the Army would keep them all together in the same unit, if they volunteered for the U. S. Army Nurse Corps. As anybody who has ever served in the military knows recruiters will tell you whatever they need to tell you to get you to volunteer. But this recruiter kept his promise to these five Jewish Nurses. And they served together in the 116th General Hospital, U. S. Army.
Upon being commissioned as Lieutenants, Ruth and her fellow nurses were sent overseas where they served in the European Theater of Operations. They were stationed first in Harrogate, England, a spa town in North Yorkshire. Later, they were sent to Nierenberg, Germany. Here Ruth's unit spent days removing munitions from a building marked with a red "H" on its roof as they converted it into a real hospital by use by her unit, the 116th General Hospital, U. S. Army.
One of Ruth's duties as a nurse required her to examine wounded soldiers to determine whether why should be sent home to the U. S. for further e treatment or back to the front. She said this was the hardest part of her job as a nurse, and she would send the boys home whenever she could.
In later years for their school projects, many of Ruth's grandchildren wrote school reports and made videos of their interviews with her about her experiences as an Army nurse in WWII. We are so pleased to have these permanent records and memories of Ruth.
Following V. E. Day, Ruth and her unit were sent home. They returned home on a troop ship, crossing the North Atlantic in an arduous 20-day voyage during a winter storm. During this return voyage, Ruth and the other members of her unit were constantly seasick. Ruth said she lost a pound a day and was unrecognized by Louie and Blanche when they met her in Boston upon her debarkation. Her mother was aghast at the sight of her.
Prior to the war, Ruth had met the love of her life, Alexander (Al) Epstein and they promised to wait for each other and marry after the war. Al, trained as a pharmacist, also served during the war as an enlisted man in the Army Medical Corps. Once and awhile, Ruth would remind Al that she outranked him. But we all knew their marriage was a true, deep and loving partnership.
Once home, Ruth and Al put the war behind them to live the rest of their lives together. Ruth and Al were married on June 30, 1947 at a huge, formal wedding held at the Imperial Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. In her later years, Ruth remarked her father and mother, grateful for her safe return from overseas, invited everybody they knew to her wedding, over 300 people, most of whom she did not know.
For 53 years, Ruth and Al raised their family across from "Bubbi's Beach," at 16 King's Beach Terrace, Swampscott, Massachusetts. Ruth worked outside the home as a pediatric nurse. She had a gift for relating to children of all ages who always remembered her. She became well known throughout her community as Bubbie Ruth.
Ruth became well known to the members of the Swampscott Police and Fire Departments, to whom she would annually administer flu shots. This came in handy whenever the Police and Fire Departments would erect road blocks in town on holidays, such as the 4th of July and Memorial Day. ("Let Bubbi through!") Ruth's life and legacy was one of service: to her nation, to her community of Swampscott, Massachusetts and above all else, her family. Bubbi Ruth took special delight in her grandchildren and great grandchildren, as she introduced each of them to Bubbi's Beach.
At age 90, following Al's passing due to a war-related injury from which he suffered his entire post-war life and for he would qualify him for a full-disability pension, Ruth reluctantly, but decidedly, left her friends and beloved home at 16 King's Beach Terrace. At a time when others of her generation were electing to age in place, as she had done all her life since enlisting in the U. S. Army Nurse Corps, with aplomb Ruth moved across the county to the Bay Area in northern California. Here her daughters Diane and Ronnie were living with their families, and her son Steven and his family was close by in Arizona.
Ruth almost immediately found the Rutlinger Center for Jewish Living in Danville, California. With all due respect to the Beach Boys, Ruth quickly and enthusiastically became a California girl! As soon as Ruth moved into Rutlinger, she knew she was home among her community.
Now, please allow me to name the family members and the legacy of Ruth and Al.
Daughter Marilyn and her husband Robert Zimman, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Their son Marc Zimman, his wife Sarah, and their children Abigail and Elizabeth of Brookline, Massachusetts.
Their son Adam Zimman, his wife Kate, and their children Ella and Milo, San Francisco, California.
Their son Ethan Zimman and his wife Meghan, ____, Virginia.
Their daughter Ariel Zimman, Portland, Oregon
Middle Daughter Diane Etzel, her husband Fred Etzel, Berkeley, California, and their children Catherine, San Francisco, California and Zachary, Poultney, Vermont.
Their youngest daughter Ronnie Balan and her husband Bob, San Ramon, California.
Son Steven Epstein, his wife Natalie Grinnblatt and their children Jake and Ben, Phoenix, Arizona.
We shall mourn Ruth's passing and think of her every time we see a wave break and hear a child's laugh at Bubbie's beach.