Ruth Florence Lindstedt was born September 30, 1909 in New York, N. Y., the youngest daughter of Axel and Charlotte Lindstedt who had emigrated from Sweden to Prospect Park a decade earlier. The family moved soon after to White Plains, N. Y., where Ruth and her sister Elsie attended White Plains High School. Ruth was confirmed at Grace Episcopal Church. The family often vacationed in the Adirondacks around Lake George and Brant Lake with extended family members.
Following graduation from high school, Ruth attended the Grand Central School of Art in New York City and worked in retailing. Around this time she met Joseph B. Ullman, a neighbor in White Plains, who was attending Columbia Law School in New York City. The couple was married in October 1937 and continued to live in White Plains, later planning and building a house in the Fox Meadow section of neighboring Scarsdale, N. Y., to which they moved in 1942 with their one-year old son Kenneth. Their daughter Karen was born in 1947. During the war years, Ruth and Joe tended a vegetable garden in a nearby field and canned provisions for the family. Joe was drafted and transferred to Arkansas, where plucky Ruth and 4-yr old Ken drove to visit him in 1945. The war wound down and Joe was not deployed abroad.
In the 1950s the family purchased property on Squam Lake in the Town of Moultonborough, N. H. on the site of the former Harvard Engineering Camp (later building a then state-of-the-art Techbuilt vacation cottage on the property), and this became their second home for weekend and summer retreats.
Ruth’s life was centered on the home, family, and raising two children, but she and Joe found time for travel, which they enjoyed greatly. Among many family trips were memorable ones to Sanibel, Quebec, and Bermuda, where the family celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Ruth and Joe also enjoyed travel on their own: Hawaii, the Caribbean, exploring Europe to discover old family haunts and relatives, among destinations. Ruth was an avid cook and baker, and particularly enjoyed carrying on the traditional Scandinavian recipes her mother prepared, expanding her repertoire to include bread making and Swedish Lasagne. Always creative, Ruth pursued her artistic bent in many crafts, including ceramics and metalwork; as a young woman Ruth made many of her own clothes. Ruth was for many years an active member of the Scarsdale Women’s Club, and formed many friendships there. Ruth also was a volunteer at White Plains Hospital.
After nearly 70 years of marriage, Ruth’s devoted husband Joe died May 30, 2007 at age 94. Ruth Ullman died November 30, 2008 in Sandwich, N. H. at age 99. She is survived by daughter Karen Ullman, of Scarsdale, N. Y. and Moultonborough, N. H., and son Kenneth Ullman, of Alexandria, Va. Guardian of the family spirit, Ruth will always be remembered for her grace, her charm, her calming influence, her positive outlook, her inner and outer beauty, and her radiance.