Ruth Huffman Carr

1926 - 2022

CARR

RUTH HUFFMAN CARR

Ruth Huffman Carr, college teacher, career counselor, and volunteer lobbyist died November 11, 2022. Ruth was born in Cleveland, OH in 1926, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Lyman F. Huffman. She graduated, Phi Beta Kappa, from Duke University, and later served six years on the Duke Women's Council. Ruth met her late husband, John F. Carr, at work and at Georgetown parties. They were married in 1952.

In 1955 they moved to Long Island, NY where they raised three children and where Ruth served on the board of Planned Parenthood and as Trustee of the Heckscher Museum of Art. She also volunteered with pre-kindergarten African American children. After earning an MA in sociology she taught a variety of sociology courses at Suffolk Community College and New York Institute of Technology, where she also taught the first course on women's changing roles.

Ruth returned to Washington, DC in 1981 when her husband came to head the Washington office of Grumman Corporation. Now a certified career counselor, Ruth counseled and taught at Bernard Haldane Assoc. and GW, but she mostly worked in private practice, "Carr Careers," for 20 years. She also taught sociology and women's roles at American University's OLLI.

For four years Ruth lobbied weekly with the American Association of University Women on issues such as Family and Medical Leave and the Violence Against Women Act. She also became Chair & Co-Chair of Women's Issues at The Women' National Democratic Club, sometimes lobbying with other women's organizations, and with Common Cause on Campaign Finance Reform. Also, after extensive research, Ruth became an early climate change activist, on which she lobbied every Senate office. In her late 80's she lobbied Congress with CCL (Citizen's Climate Lobby).

Ruth enjoyed classical music, ballet, bridge, book clubs, travel and gardens. Most importantly, Ruth loved her family—her late husband, her children and in laws: Douglas (Julie), Elizabeth (Denis), Jeffrey, and her grandchildren Spencer, Stefan, and Chloe. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.