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LETTER: Remembering Harrison Hot Springs matriarch

Harrison resident Elisabeth Scotson shares her memories of Ruth Altendorf
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Ruth Altendorf (right) playing cards. (Agassiz-Harrison Historical Society)

Dear Editor,

I was deeply saddened by the news of the sudden passing of Ruth Altendorf, the matriarch of Harrison Hot Springs. She loved her adopted community, and did many things to enrich the lives of residents of the village.

When she and her husband Heinz came to live there almost three decades ago, they wanted to join a hiking club to explore our local mountains: on being told there was not one, they promptly created the Harrison Hikers.

She also became an active member of the Recreational Committee, and of the popular Multicultural Choir, with her work being recognized when a bridge across the Miami River was named after her.

Her house was always open to welcome visitors – often with her smile and an offer of a glass of wine. Her endless optimism and creativity – as witnessed in her columns to this very newspaper in recent years – were always refreshing.

I am so glad to have known her; she will indeed be missed.

-Elisabeth Scotson, Harrison Hot Springs



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