Ruth Litter, 97, First Woman To Chair Framingham Library Board of Trustees

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FRAMINGHAM – Ruth Litter, 97, Framingham, died on November 7, 2021.

She was preceded in death by Julius Litter, MD, husband of 30 years in 1988; and by her first husband, Aaron Levitas, DDS, in 1956.

A longtime Framingham resident, Ruth was the first woman to chair the Framingham Public Library Board of Library Trustees and oversaw the planning and construction of the main library at 49 Lexington Street in 1979. She was a lifetime member of the Framingham Democratic Committee.

Born and raised in the Bronx, NY, Ruth earned her BA at Hunter College in 1943. She was a high school teacher in the New York City public school system where she had a flair for creatively engaging students in literature. She pursued a Master’s degree in American Literature at Columbia University.

A fluent Yiddish speaker, Ruth greatly enjoyed the nuances of the language of her childhood home and its role in Jewish humor, and she taught Yiddish to adult students. Ruth was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and teacher, and she loved sharing culturally rich stories about her life growing up in her extended Jewish family in the Bronx. Ruth’s children appreciated and learned from her intellectual rigor and unwillingness to settle for the easy answer or prevailing wisdom. She instilled a love of literature and social justice in her children and grandchildren. She was a woman of formidable intellect, boundless curiosity and personal elegance and dignity, and was a charming and eloquent storyteller. She took great joy in her home, maintaining her rose bushes in the summer and indoor tropical plants through the New England winter.

She will be greatly missed for her vitality, joie de vivre and humor. Ruth is survived by her children, Alice Litter (Kenneth Miller) of Harvard, MA, Jane Ruoff (Carl Ruoff) of Rochester, NY and Jonathan Lichtmacher (Liza Geary) of San Francisco, CA. In addition to her children, Ruth is survived by her eight grandchildren, Adam and Eric Miller, Juliana and Madeline Ruoff, Jeremy, Paul, Adam and Hank Lichtmacher.

Ruth was buried at the Temple B’nai Brith Cemetery in Peabody at a private ceremony with her family.

Donations in her memory may be made to The Yiddish Book Center, 1021 West St., Amherst, MA 01002.