At Heritage, we are honored to serve extraordinary individuals with amazing life stories to tell! Keep reading to learn more about Ruth Hansen who lives at Vinecroft, a Heritage community in Clarence Center, NY.
The text below was written by Hannah Furey, Activities Assistant at Vinecroft.
Ruth Hansen grew up in Williamsville, NY with her parents and older brother. She had always lived comfortably in New York however, she found herself having a strong desire to travel. After getting married, she and her husband, Walter, traveled to all 50 states together! She met and married Walter just after graduating college. The couple had four daughters together; Marybeth, Barbara, Virginia and Laura. She is very proud of raising four good and kind children. She is also very proud and passionate about educating the youth. She worked for 15 years as an elementary school teacher, teaching Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd graders. Ruth was also a member of the Buffalo Museum of Science, occasionally working there as well.
During this period, she went on various trips with the museum. Her most interesting trip was traveling down the Amazon River in a house boat for three weeks. The brown water surrounding them was filled with piranhas and perico fish (also known as mahi-mahi). The locals were very restrictive and protective over the tourists. They were stern on not letting anyone go in the water because of how dangerous it was. It was a very thrilling experience for Ruth to be floating on top of apex marine predators. At night there was no light pollution obstructing the view of the stars and she remembers staring up at the Southern Cross before falling asleep on the top deck. She compared them to diamonds on account of how bright and close the stars looked. It felt as if she could reach out and touch them.
Some other travels she fondly remembered were to Egypt, England and Australia. She loved snorkeling in The Great Barrier Reef and seeing The Great Pyramids of Giza. She prominently loved hiking with her older brother from Exmoor National Park to Padstow in Southern England. She learned about the history behind Lorna Doone, in Doone Valley, and walked beside trees hundreds of years old. She feels very fortunate to have been able to see so much of the world.
Ruth loved traveling, sewing, ice skating and writing stories. She loved passing around her stories to her peers during class. Ruth was very confidence to teach her peers Shakespeare for a week when the teacher left for a conference and placed her responsible. Her favorite time of the year is summer. She enjoys roasted chicken, fireworks, and warm summer nights spent with family and friends. She loves going out and feeling the sun’s love.
Ruth said that her mother’s lasting words on her were to be kind to all people. Some people have more kindness in just their fingertip than others do in their whole body, but to never hurt anyone is something everyone is more than capable of. Ruth has shown everyone in Vinecroft kindness and love since the day she moved here seven years ago. She has touched so many hearts over the duration of her stay and we are blessed to have Ruth with us!