Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Deepest condolences to Mrs. Ruller's family but I hope that you can take comfort in that, from every perspective, hers was a life well-lived. My lasting memory of Mrs. Ruller was the seeming tireless assistance she lent to all of us at St. Thomas School. She helped chaperone two camping trips that I and my classmates made to Cypress Hills and Duck Mountain in grades 7 & 8 in the early 1970s. Her firm but caring hand was evident as she did yeoman's work in organizing and feeding the 60-odd students and teachers. My enduring memory is, while we were out on a field trip in Cypress Hills, she stayed behind to tend the camp. As we returned on a bus, we witnessed her chasing a black bear from the grounds, brandishing a cast iron frying pan! We knew we were well looked after. My last and at that time dreaded duty leaving St. Thomas in Grade 8 was to give her a gift in appreciation of all her hard work -- it was "dreaded" in that she was known to hug the person to whom this duty fell (I was but a boy of 13!). I now am ever grateful that I had the opportunity to thank this wonderful lady for all she gave us. It now seems not enough.
