Ruth Ann Redman Williamson

WILLIAMSON
RUTH ANN REDMAN WILLIAMSON 1930-2024
Ruth Williamson, a legendary teacher at the National Cathedral School, died peacefully at her home in Bethesda, Maryland on January 26, 2024 following complications from Covid and vascular dementia. She was 93.

The daughter of Robert P. and Alice A. Redman, Ruth Ann Redman was born on November 17, 1930 in Bakersfield, California, where her father was employed by Standard Oil. She grew up in El Paso, Texas, graduating from Stephen F. Austin High School in 1947. She attended Mills College in Oakland, California, where she joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1952. She then completed a Master's in History at Texas Western University and embarked on a teaching career.

In 1954, she met David Williamson Jr., at the Officer's Club at Fort Bliss. The couple were married in El Paso on December 22, 1954 and moved to Washington in 1957, where he was soon recruited into the first intake of employees at the new National Space and Aeronautics Administration.

In 1958, Ruth was hired to teach history at the National Cathedral School for Girls. For generations of NCS girls, Mrs. Williamson's 7th grade Medieval History class became a rite of passage, loved by some and feared by others. A notoriously tough grader, she set equally high standards for all her students, showing no fear or favor to the daughters of Washington's political and social elite.

"Smart, demanding, and eccentric, Mrs. Williamson pushed us hard," former U.N. Ambassador and National Security Advisor Susan Rice wrote in her memoir, Tough Love. "Her conviction that I could actually win the coveted American flag that flies adjacent to the National Cathedral – the prize given annually to the senior class valedictorian – was catalytic."

The signature project in her class was the Viking Ship. Following detailed instructions, her students would build and decorate elaborate, historically accurate replicas of Viking longships. To pass the assignment, the ship had to float – and the annual day for launching the latest round of Viking ships became an informal highlight on the school calendar. She estimated that more than 2,000 Viking ships were constructed over the years.

The first holder of Elizabeth G. Chisholm Chair in Middle School Studies, she retired from teaching after the 2007 school year and immediately became a docent at the National Cathedral. An indefatigable tour guide, she delighted in augmenting standard tourist information about the Cathedral with anecdotes from her six decades on the Close. She gave her last tour in 2018.

In her personal life, Ruth was a dedicated mother and a patient partner to a demanding spouse. A lifelong devotee of dance, she had season tickets to the ballet since the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971. She was an ardent feminist, a champion of women's education and an early and generous supporter of abortion rights.

Her husband retired from NASA in 1981 as Assistant Administrator and died in 1992. Ruth later reconnected with a friend from high school, Dr. Jerome Ramsey of Binghamton, New York, and the two spent many companionable years together until his death in 2014.

Although dimmed in recent years by the effects of dementia, she remained unfailingly gracious. For helping Ruth stay comfortably in her home, the family would like to express their gratitude to Melissa Kahn, Wendy Jackson, Fidel and Cecilia Solis, and to Ruth's caregivers, especially Evelyn Gwira.

She is survived by her daughter, Dr. Anne Williamson, of Wallingford, CT; her son, David Williamson III of Washington, DC; three grandsons, R. Taylor Williamson, John M. Williamson, and Robert D. Williamson; and numerous nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in her name to the National Cathedral School for Girls or the National Abortion Rights Action League. Services private.