Ruth MILLER

1939 - 2022

MILLER (Guldner),

Ruth Carol

Ruth Carol Guldner Miller, 83, died peacefully on July 13, 2022, after a brave six-year battle with Alzheimer's Disease.

Ruth was born at home in the spring of 1939 in Broken Bow, Nebraska, to the Reverend Lester and Norma Guldner (née Ahrens). Her father was the pastor of the Broken Bow First Presbyterian Church.

In 1954, her parents moved to Oxford, Iowa, (near Iowa City and the Amana Colonies) where her father became the pastor of the Oxford Federated Church. Ruth graduated from Oxford High School as class valedictorian and winner of the Betty Crocker Award.

Ruth continued her education at the University of Iowa, graduating in 1961 with a degree in elementary education. While at Iowa she was a drummer with the Scottish Highlanders, an all-female bagpipe, drum, and dance group. They performed at all home football games and one away game each season. In December of 1958 the Highlanders took the Santa Fe Railroad to Pasadena, California where Iowa played in the Rose Bowl. Ruth marched in the Rose Parade and performed on the field at half time. In the summer of 1960, the Highlanders traveled to Europe on the HMS Queen Elizabeth and performed in Scotland and England, as well as visited several other countries on the continent.

In the fall of 1962, Ruth entered the Graduate School of Library Science at the University of Illinois. She met her husband-to-be Marty over lunch in the Illini Union. She graduated in 1963 and accepted a position in the Government Documents Department at the University of Illinois Library.

Ruth and Marty were married in Marty's hometown of Danville, Illinois on August 8,, 1964. They moved to Iowa City where Marty worked in the University of Iowa Library and Ruth in the University of Iowa Law Library. In the summer of 1965 they moved to Burlington, Vermont where both worked in the University of Vermont Library. Their daughter Chris was born in June of 1967. A year later the family moved to Oxford, Ohio where both Ruth and Marty were employed at the Miami University Library. In July of 1970, Ruth gave birth to their son, Mark. While at Miami Ruth worked as a cataloger, librarian at the McGuffey Laboratory School, humanities librarian, music librarian, and head of the instructional materials center until her retirement in 2002.

Ruth's community activities were many and varied. Her involvement included serving as board member of the McCullough-Hyde Women's Auxiliary, a member of COSEP and the host family program, and serving on the Butler County Planned Parenthood board. She drove Head Start children for several years and carried out the distribution of food baskets to needy local families. She was also involved in McGuffey Lab School's Parent Teacher Organization, Friends of the Oxford Lane Library, and the Talawanda Academic Boosters. In 1974, Ruth was runner-up for Oxford Citizen of the Year.

Ruth was a member of the Oxford Presbyterian Church for over 50 years where she served as the coordinator of vacation church school, helped organize the Christian Cooperative Nursery school, and served on the Board of Deacons.

Ruth was a lover of books and especially enjoyed reading aloud to her children and students at McGuffey Lab School. She also enjoyed entertaining friends and her homemade ice cream and rum cakes were loved by many. Travel was a big part of Ruth's life. She and Marty traveled to all 50 states, as well as Canada, Mexico and many European countries. Ruth was a big fan of Road Scholar and she and Marty attended over 100 programs.

She is survived by her husband, Marty, daughter, Chris (John) Orsborn of Colorado Springs, Colorado and son, Mark (Kathy) of Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

The family would like to thank the management and staff of Woodland Country Manor for their kind and loving care of Ruth for nearly four years.

A service in memory of Ruth will be held Tuesday, November 1st at 11am at the Oxford Presbyterian Church with a light lunch to follow.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in Ruth's memory may be made to Oxford Seniors Community Adult Day Service or the Alzheimer's Association Greater Cincinnati Chapter.

Her beautiful smile could light up a room. May the memory of Ruth Miller be a blessing. She was gracious and kind to all. Rest in peace.