Ruth Ellen Waller, age 99, of Pigeon Falls, formerly of rural Whitehall died on Sunday,
November 9, 2025 in the Pigeon Falls Health Care Center in Pigeon Falls, Wisconsin.
Ruth was born on August 11, 1926 in New York City to Louis and Rebecca (Newman) Pariser.
She married Roger Milton Waller of Taylor, Wisconsin on May 28, 1955 in Anchorage, Alaska.
Roger preceded Ruth in death on April 26, 2017.
Ruth graduated with honors from the Franklin K. Lane High School in Brooklyn in 1943, and
went on to earn a degree in psychology from Queens College in 1947. She had a life long
interest in helping people who struggle with mental health issues and she worked as a
psychiatric aide at the Norwich State Hospital as well as a social worker at the Central Islip
State Hospital and Queens General Hospital. An early influence was her favorite professor at
Queens College, Dr. Kenneth Clark, who notably went on to contribute to the Brown v. Board of
Education case before the Supreme Court.
Ruth moved to Manhattan attending the Art Students League where she studied portrait
painting, a skill she carried throughout her life. She got a job at a co-op nursery in Brooklyn
where she was a teacher for folksinger Woody Guthrie’s boys, including 4 year old Arlo. In
1952, Ruth earned her teaching certificate from NYU and, feeling the call of adventure, went
west to Merced, California where she taught kindergarten for a year at the John Muir School.
In 1953 she moved north to Alaska to teach second grade at the Denali School in Anchorage.
Ever active in the field of psychology, Ruth was a charter member of the first Mental Health
Association in Anchorage and the first President of the Alaska Mental Health Association. It was
in Anchorage where she met and married Roger and together they started their family with three
daughters. Indicative of Cold War tensions of the era their home was equipped with the first
family fallout shelter in Alaska!
After leaving Alaska in 1963, Ruth, Roger and their three daughters lived in Arlington, VA,
Tuscon, AZ, Albany, NY and Madison, WI. Ruth returned to school ‘stateside’ as an older adult
in 1968, receiving her Masters and Doctorate degrees in counseling and psychology from the
UW Madison. She spent the rest of her career teaching, eventually becoming the Chair of the
Human Services Department at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY.
In retirement Ruth was busy with travel, clubs, friends and family. She loved to read and always
had a stack of books by her side. She was able to travel the world with Roger, learning about
people, places and cultures through the Elder Hostel program. She loved to shop, spend time
with her children and grandchildren and decorate her home.
Ruth was a strong, confident and courageous person who broke through many of the barriers
that women of her generation faced. She was a fierce advocate for her family and her students.
Always the teacher, she was quick to instruct us of our moral obligation to be sensitive to the
plight of others, to assist those less fortunate and to be a voice for the oppressed. Her love,
wisdom and guidance will be deeply missed.
Ruth is survived by her three daughters, Elizabeth (Chris) Zerby of Gaithersburg, Maryland,
Janet (Bill) Butler of Whitehall and Nancy (Al Silberstein) Waller of Taylor, Wisconsin; three
grandchildren, Tim Butler of Queens, NY, Rebecca (Kevin) Zerby Millward of Savannah, GA
and Andrew (Nina) Zerby of Coatesville, PA; and one great-grandchild, Olive Zerby.
In addition to her parents and husband, Ruth was preceded in death by her sister Judith
Abberman of New York, NY.
A Celebration of Life is being planned for the spring.
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