Life-long Milwaukee resident Ruth Babbitz (nee Gross) died April 3 at age 94.
Born Ruth Helen Gross, she was the only child of Hungarian immigrants George and Olga Gross, who owned the restaurant, The Cricket.
During high school, Ruth landed a job as a part-time sales clerk during a strike at Boston Store. After the strike, she was kept on, and was offered a full-time position upon graduation from North Division High School. She was quickly promoted from the sales floor to the main office.
A sports enthusiast, she often went to Borchert Field to watch baseball games, played tennis almost daily and took golf lessons. In 1936, she married Milton Manhoff, a golf instructor at the Jewish Community Center. The couple divorced in 1950.
Ruth then worked two jobs, during the week at the Cornell Paperboard Company and at her former in-law’s shoe store on weekends.
Several years later, she married Milton Babbitz, a childhood friend, and began to work at her husband’s tavern. After Milton’s death in 1973, she worked as a secretary at Temple Shalom and later worked as a coordinator of Telephone Reassurance, a Milwaukee County volunteer program for shut-ins, before retiring at age 81.
A longtime member of Temple Menorah, she loved to read, play mahjong and bridge, and do crossword puzzles. She was a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Green Bay Packers.
She is survived by daughters Joanne (Darrel) Mandel of Indianapolis, Ind., and Shelly (David) Fairman of Highland Park, Ill.; sons David (Janice) Manhoff of Wilmette, Ill., Allen (Michelle) Babbitz of Fox Point and James Babbitz of Louisville, Ky.; 16 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
She was buried in Ever Rest Cemetery. Rabbi Gil-Ezer Lerer officiated.
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