"Aunt" Ruth

Did you ever have a very special person who you were not really related to, but was a big part of the family anyway?  So much so that this person earned the honorary title of "Aunt" or "Uncle".  Well, we only had a couple of them.  One was was dad's friend and co-worker, Bill Jones - somehow he earned the title "Uncle Jones".  But none were as special as "Aunt" Ruth.

"Aunt" Ruth Moss

Ruth Moss was our Aunt Alice's (Eeehee) (don't ask), room mate, and I can't believe that this is the only picture I could find.  It was taken at my brother's wedding.  They both worked in Jersey City for Baldwin Paints and Oils in the office.  I remember going to the office one time and you could see the Statue of Liberty from their window.  Anyway, they worked together and lived together in Jersey City, and they visited us almost every weekend "down the shore".  They lived in an apartment building on Fowler Ave until the night that it exploded while my brother Paul was visiting.  Paul got interviewed on the NY News Channel by Gabe Pressman.  This was in the early 60's, I think Paul said he was about 12 years old when it happened, and several people were killed in the explosion. Well so much for that apartment. Next they lived in Saint John's Apartments on Saint Paul's Ave - no I'm not kidding.  Maybe they thought the names would keep them from exploding, I don't know.  I think Saints are a Catholic thing, and Ruth was Jewish so I don't know about that.

Like I said they visited almost every weekend, birthday and holiday.  They always brought us stuff, like candy and toys.  Sometimes Ruth would drive both of them down, but if only Alice came, she would take the train or the bus (the Red and Tan Lines from Journal Square to Asbury Park).  Whenever they visited it was always fun.

I was thinking about Ruth the other day and how little I really know about her.  I know she died in 1979 in her car (that Alice later gave to me), and she had two brothers, but that was just about it.  I remember my mom saying that Ruth did not even know when her birthday was.  My sister told me recently that her brother Herman found her birth certificate shortly before she died and it turned out that she was actually about 9 or 10 years younger than she thought.  I also remember Mom telling me that Ruth had changed her surname at one point to Moss, Mom thought that it was originally Moskowitz.

You don't have to hit me with a brick - I started checking.  First I googled Ruth Moss and found her in the Social Security Death Index.  It gives her birth date as 28 Oct 1900, and her death in New Jersey in Oct 1979.  I went to the Monmouth County Library to check for an obituary in the Asbury Park Press, but could not find one.  That's when I remembered that when Jews die,  their religion requires that they must be buried before the following sunset (Great idea), so  maybe there was not time for an obit.  Then I went on the NJ State Archives website and they have a searchable database for legal name changes.  So I entered the "New Name" as Ruth Moss and BINGO.  Ruth Moskowitz changed her name to Ruth Moss on 7 Apr 1942 in Essex County NJ.  I was off to the Archives and I was able to obtain a copy of the Court Order from the Essex County Court of Common Pleas.  Not only Ruth changed her name, her two brothers: Herman and George, their wives: Celia and Pearl and Herman's daughter Marlene, and George's children: Rita and Malcolm.  Everyone lived at 140 Lehigh Ave in Newark, except Ruth who lived at 21 Borroughs Way, Maplewood.  Not a whole lot of info, but it did remind me of her family.  I remember her talking about all of them as soon as I read the names it came back to me.

When I got home, I ran Ruth Moskowitz through Ancestry.com to check census records and the only one that I found was 1930.  They are living at 155 Lehigh Av, Newark NJ and they are listed as Moskowitz, George age 21 (Head of house), Moskowitz, Herman age 19, and Moskowitz, Ruth age 24.  On the page the last name is listed first and is kind of faded (it is 82 years old) and then the three first names from top to bottom read George Herman Ruth - that is a famous name.  For you non baseball fans that is the name of the immortal Babe - BABE RUTH.  So I guess Ruth was destined to be a Yankee fan.  As a matter of fact, one of her nephews would later be a part owner of the team - I have an old Yankee Yearbook that has his name listed and a photo of him.  The best part of the census record is that is says  that they were all born in New Jersey.  We all know what that means by now "ROAD TRIP" to the archives for birth certificates.  Well that's enough for now, but I'll be back to "Aunt" Ruth when I find more info.