Westport Friends Meeting

Ruth Howland Memorial Minute

Memorial Minute for Ruth L. Howland

Our beloved Friend Ruth Howland was born on September 30, 1918 in neighboring Fall River but lived her entire life in Westport, MA. The daughter of George and Annie Howland, she was a faithful attender and member of Westport Monthly Meeting of Friends from the age of three. Ruth was a modest and humble person who never had a bad thing to say about anyone and never complained. She embodied the Quaker values of simplicity, thrift and kindness.

Her perfect attendance at First Day School as a child was consistent with how she lived her entire life. Ruth took seriously her commitment to her work and to every person around her. Constancy was not for a season, but for a lifetime.

Ruth was employed primarily as a telephone operator, starting out in the local, rural office where she was the answering and paging service for doctors, and later moving to the New Bedford office until her retirement. She was very active in community organizations, including the Westport Women’s Club, the Grange, and several bird watching groups. Ruth loved children and also volunteered at Westport’s Well-Baby Clinic. She remembered one of her last home health aids as a newborn at the clinic, and they both tenderly delighted in the fact that while their roles had reversed, they were still taking care of each other.

Over the years, Ruth faithfully served our Meeting in many ways, including as the assistant treasurer from 1938 until the time of her death. She was a stalwart member of property committee, the lead person at our annual book sale’s bake table, and our unofficial historian. In her gentle and understated way, she gave us a wider perspective on the evolution of our Meeting’s practices, property, and membership. Smart as well as practical, we relied on her to tell us how it used to be and sought out her opinions on changes. She was a particular favorite amongst our young people, many of whom considered her a true, dear old friend. She had a gift for being present to whomever was in front of her, and we each felt known and special in her company.

Ruth loved a good joke and had a light, infectious laugh. Her speech was punctuated by sayings like “It’s a lazy wind today – it goes right through you rather than around!” In later years, this wellspring of humor and colloquialism endeared her to her caretakers, and to all of us who visited her and pushed her wheelchair up and down Main Road. Her constant cheerfulness, despite her physical infirmities and increasing reliance on the help of others, was remarkable.

Ruth died on July 28, 2006 after a period of failing health. We deeply miss her calm and compassionate presence as well as her unabashed love of sweets, her laughter, and her twinkling eyes. Intermixed with our sorrow, though, we hold much gratitude and awe for a life lived so well. Ruth personified the best of living as a Friend, truly letting her life speak. By her example, we hold a steadfast guiding light for walking in the Spirit with cheerfulness, simplicity, humility and grace.