Ruth Wertheimer

on February 19 2025. Born in 1934 in Brooklyn, New York to Clara and Simon Uhrman, she

moved to Cleveland before moving to Perry, Ohio, where, as a young girl, she loved to read,

especially fairytales, and to play baseball with her younger brother, Harold. She also had a big

brother, Sol, and a big sister, Edith, whom she loved and looked up to.

Ruth attended Perry High School where she was a drum majorette, played basketball, field

hockey and baseball, and was a member of the National Honor Society. After graduating in 1952,

following her interest in dentistry, and with a lot of help from her sister, Edith, whom she

credited with making her career possible, she caught a Greyhound bus in front of her house in

Perry in a dress she made herself to go to Columbus and talk to someone at Ohio State about

dental hygiene. Then she caught the bus back home and, with Edith’s help, figured out how to

get to college with no resources. Her mom and dad didn’t want her to go away to school, but

when she was accepted, they packed up the car and drove her to Columbus, where she got a 2-

year degree in dental hygiene, working the whole time as a secretary to the Governor.

It wasn’t always easy growing up in the only Jewish family in Perry. In her senior year, all her

girlfriends turned on her because she was Jewish. (It probably didn’t help that she was really

pretty and fun to be with and the boys loved her.) She enjoyed going to her 30th class reunion and

finding that one of the meanest girls had lost all her back teeth.

She met her husband of 54 years, Victor Wertheimer, at a party when she was 21. Shortly after

they met, he sent her flowers with a card that read, “To the mother of my children.” This freaked

her out, but she didn’t run and they got married a few months later and enjoyed a union filled

with family, love, laughter, friends, great parties and travel.

Ruth is survived by her four children, Jeff (Jodi), Roger (Lori), Susan (Rick), and Judy

(Michael), eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, each one better looking and smarter

than the next. She is also survived by her loving companion of many years, Greg Basch, and by

Kenya Johnson, a wonderful caregiver and friend, and by many other friends whom she dearly

loved.

She was a great mom and a great gramma and she will be missed for many things, not least her

hilarious, unfiltered sense of humor. She was also a fierce defender of women’s rights.

Services will be held Thursday February 20th at 3:30 Pm at THE BERKOWITZ-KUMIN-BOOKATZ MEMORIAL CHAPEL 1985 South Taylor Rd Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44112

Shiva will be held at Congregation Mishkan Or26000 Shaker Blvd, Beachwood, OH 44122 From 6 to 8 PM and Friday from 11-3 PM

Donations in memory of Ruth may be made to Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, online or by

check to 206 E. State Street, Columbus, OH 43215

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