Ruth Smiler

Ruth Smiler passed away peacefully on September 19, 2023 at age 77 in her home in Alameda, California. Born on May 25, 1946 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to parents Betty and Max Milner, Ruth was a graduate of Radcliffe College at Harvard. She married Chuck Smiler in December of her senior year in college, who she had attended high school and college with, and soon after gave birth to their only child, Alice.

Ruth pursued many paths along the way, working briefly in urban planning in Boston, Massachusetts after graduating, as a textile artist as well as vintage clothing and small antiques store owner in Montpelier, Vermont. She was an active volunteer in Vermont while her daughter, Alice was in school, serving on the local school board, and designing costumes for the high school plays. Ruth was active in the Central Vermont artist community, traveled throughout the northeast to show her work at many arts and crafts fairs both solo and with her friend and S&McQ Designs business partner, Agathe. She also was a guest teacher during that time at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts. Later, while living in New Bedford, Massachusetts she helped furnish and run Captain Haskell's Octagon House Bed & Breakfast with Chuck. Ruth loved to roadtrip, and took several van trips crisscrossing the United States, often with pets, proudly keeping track of every state she visited on a map she painted on the side of the van.

Ruth was a huge dog and cat lover her entire life, and passionate about all things animal rescue, working later in life as a dog trainer, fostering cats, and caring for many pets over the course of her life. She was thrifty and crafty, sewing quilts and knitting, doing restoration of vintage linens and clothing, and later got into furniture painting and faux finishing. After moving to California, she became very politically active, volunteering in local voting drives, democratic socialist campaigns, vigils, and protests with Alameda Progressives and SURJ. Upon Trump being elected, she launched a Saturday vigil on Park St. in Alameda, and pledged not to stop the weekly peaceful protest until he left office, which was only deterred by failing health.

Ruth was known for her sense of fashion and animal prints, her love of the color green, and big bangle bracelets. She loved gardening, going out to hear jazz, and became an incredible cultivator of succulents in California. Ruth was quick-witted, deep thinking, creative, and an avid reader to the end. Even after her health declined, she continued to enjoy walking her beloved West End neighborhood in Alameda, shopping her favorite thrift stores, going out to eat cuisines from every part of the world, visiting with family, and seeing the occasional movie. Family and friends whose lives were touched by Ruth are invited to celebrate by sharing memories, stories and photos on this memorial page.