Jane Ruhmkorff's LegacyWe at WWf(a)C knew Jane Ruhmkorff as a lover of life and people, a devoted and energetic supporter of the WWf(a)C mission, and a generous volunteer. Jane often said that, when she came to her first Tuesday night class in the winter of 2002, she turned one of her favorite pastimes - writing - into a passion and a practice. Jane later attended the Prose Crafting class, where she worked on stories from her trans-continental bike trip. She attended the Living and Leading Like a Poet Class, where she deepened her leadership skills and her insight as a poet. Eventually she settled in with the Tuesday morning women and became everyone's friend and cheerleader.
All of us in the WWf(a)C community have been privileged to listen to her stories, poems, essays and journal reflections. And in turn, we felt the warmth and openness of her listening ear.
On December 17, 2008, Jane surrendered to melanoma - after two years of remission from an earlier bout. She was a young and vibrant seventy-three-years of age. She joined her husband, David, who had died a little more than a year before her. It was sudden and we are saddened beyond words, even for us writers. We know Jane was loved and will be sorely missed in many circles, most especially her family. She also shared her voice, her energy, her love with members of her church, neighborhood, political activist groups, groups from her fifteen years as a theology teacher at Ursuline Academy and other school communities. Although she had set aside her dreams of another cross-country bike ride, she was active with her jazzercise group until the week before her admission in the hospital on Dec. 11.
Jane never met a stranger. She longed to find out each person's story. She was really good at it, too. Lucky for us all, she wrote almost every day, leaving us the legacy of her own story, in her own words. Her gift to us will live on, and we are grateful - yes, beyond words.
We have established a fund for donations in Jane's memory, in accordance with her children's wishes. We are grateful and humbled to be given such a gift.
Donations may be made by mailing a check to:
WWFC Foundation
6909 Plainfield Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45236
Please note on the memo line "Jane Ruhmkorff."
Thank you for your support.
“Facing a life-threatening illness gave me the opportunity to look mortality in the face and choose to live in the present moment… Our time on earth is brief and precious. We can choose not to waste another moment on humdrum actions, resentments, grudges or feeling guilty…Today is a perfect day to begin living more joyfully!” Darla Spicer Watkins, Journal entry, 2004
“Darla Watkins came to Women Writing for (a) Change in the fall of 2005 … to write about her experience as a cancer 
survivor, believing that her story might help others in similar circumstances,” says her teacher Kathy Wade. She was working on a book about her journey with breast cancer, but sadly Darla died in 2006 before that project was complete. She was 48.
WWFC Foundation
6909 Plainfield Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45236
Please note on the memo line "In Memory of Darla Watkins"
Thank you for your support.
Esme KenneyNews
of Esme Louise Kenney’s tragic death reached us on Sunday, March 8. Shock and grief stopped us in our
tracks. But not for long. Mary Pierce Brosmer, Founder and Artistic
Director of WWf(a)C, used Facebook as a means of reaching out to convene a
healing circle. Friends of Esme’s came,
sitting next to faculty and writing sisters of Esme’s mother, Lisa
Siders-Kenney. Those unfamiliar with the
WWf(a)C community came too, united in the need to channel our sadness in the
safety of an intentional community.
Esme,
who at age 13 was already an accomplished poet and musician, was remembered as
a lover of life and a child of light.
Lisa Siders-Kenney and Tom Kenney, her parents, opened their broken
hearts to all those who knew and loved Esme, and many who did not know her at
all, with extraordinary and eloquent generosity. Together they prepared a statement,
read at Esme’s memorial service March 11 at St. John’s Unitarian Church in
Clifton. With Lisa’s blessing, this
statement is reprinted here.
Esme
had many and varied interests and talents.
We are grateful for the time she spent as a writer in the Young Women’s
Program during Winter-Spring and the Sleepover, 2007. She shared her creativity and zest for life
with everyone. We are glad to be among
the lucky recipients of her gifts.
Friends
have come forward to establish a SCHOLARSHIP FUND for YOUNG WOMEN in ESME’s
MEMORY. If you would like to CONTRIBUTE,
please do so below, or contact the FOUNDATION at 513-272-1171.
Julie Hafer found Women Writing for (a) Change at a time of transition in her life. Returning to
Cincinnati from northern Ohio to care for her parents, Julie had taken a leave of absence from her position as Associate Dean of Students at Heidelberg University, where she had graduated in 1985 with a BA in English and Communications.The Tuesday morning class welcomed Julie and treasured her rich sense of humor, her ability to laugh at herself, and her disarming honesty. Julie had many life stories to share, and we were drawn to her spirit and her smile from the start.
Julie’s dedication to her parents – she was their only child – sometimes meant she had to miss class. When she did not appear for Tuesday class on March 3rd, we could only imagine that she was drawn away by her devotion. We are still shocked and deeply saddened by her sudden death, at the young age of forty-seven.
Julie had been attending a leadership class at Mount St. Joseph, and was planning to interview Founder Mary Pierce Brosmer in preparation for a report she was writing on Women Writing for (a) Change as a force for women’s leadership in the world.
It is our hope that those who knew Julie, and those who admired her gifts as a writer and her desire for community, may create a scholarship for other WWfaC writers in her name. Those who wish to donate can do so below, or my mailing a check to:
Women Writing for (a) Change
Attn: Julie Hafer Scholarship Fund
6906 Plainfield Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45236
Julie Hafer Scholarship Fund. Whatever happens, it’s certain that Julie’s stories and her life, shared through her writing and her presence in the WWfaC Community, will live on. We are grateful for the short time we knew her.
Women Writing for (a) Change Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
Women Writing for (a) Change~6906 Plainfield Rd~Cincinnati, OH 45236
Phone: 513-272-1171
Fax: 513-794-9444
