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Page 1 of the Tribute, put together by Ruth's family, and read
by Bryan Miller, at the end of the Requiem Mass in
St Mary's Church, Inverness, on Monday 12 January 2026
Ruth was not a fan of a long flowery tribute, so they’ve tried to keep this short, but as a close family they felt they had to acknowledge what an incredible woman she was.
Ruth was born in 1954 in Clarktson, Renfrewshire – she always insisted it was 'not Glasgow' but 'just South of the city boundary'. She had a happy childhood with her parents, older sister and younger brother’s. They spent many wonderful summers camping on the west coast and she soaked up a lot of her knowledge, creativity and curiosity from her father, which she passed on to us.
Ruth could tell us the names of every single bird, plant or shell we spotted. She had a wonderful mind and imagination, something that she never lost. As a child, just as in adult life, she was someone who kept her head down and just got on with it. She wasn't pushy and was always a high achiever.
While Ruth was studying for her Biology degree in Aberdeen, she met Len who was a young curate at St Margaret's church where Ruth and her sister Susan attended. They got to know each other and in 1973 at the annual St Margaret’s-tide Dinner Dance – which Ruth still had the ticket stub from – at the end of which they arranged their first date.
Unfortunately, Len being Len, had forgotten that the day he had arranged the date for, was St Margaret’s Day, the church's Patronal Festival, and, of course, he had to be in church for the Festival Mass. But Ruth understood, came along to the service. They went out after Mass for a basket supper to Broadstraik Inn which, in those days, was out in the Aberdeenshire country-side.
Two years later they were married in St Ninian's Glasgow on the 31st of May 1975 ... much to the dismay of Len’s superstitious Grandmother who said, 'Marry in May, rue the day'. But they proved her wrong when they celebrated 50 years of a Happy Marriage this year, 2025.
After they married, they moved to Dundee where Len was in his second curacy in St Paul’s Cathedral. Very soon Ruth got a job as a lab assistant after finding kittens in their garden. She traced the mother cat to the house of a Dr Haddock who immediately offered her a job.
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