Ruth U. Keeton

Ruth U. Keeton (1919 – December 14, 1997) was a member and chairperson of the Howard County Council in Maryland. In addition to this elected office, she was appointed to serve with multiple state committees including the Baltimore Regional Transportation Committee and Housing Task Force.[2]

Ruth U. Keeton
Born
Ruth Urice

1919
Vinton, Iowa, US
DiedDecember 14, 1997
Columbia, Maryland, US
Alma materNorthwestern University
Known forHoward County Council member and chair
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Morris Keeton (1916 or 1917–2014;[1] m. 1944–1997, her death)
Children3

Early life

Ruth Urice was born in Vinton, Iowa, in 1919 to Mr. and Mrs. Logan Urice. Her father later retired as the postmaster of Vinton and her mother had a master's degree in home economics.[3] She had two brothers, Logan Jr. and Kadel, and a sister, Mrs. John Drilling.[3] Ruth attended Northwestern University in the latter 1930s and graduated as a Phi Beta Kappa member. She met Morris Keeton outside Chicago in 1943 and they married in 1944.[4] Early in their relationship, Ruth and Morris manned an inter-racial work camp for their Quaker church in Chicago, intended to break down racial discrimination.[5] The couple moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 1947 when Morris began a 30-year tenure with Antioch College.[6] Morris taught in Germany in the mid-1950s while Ruth worked abroad for the American Friends Service Committee.[3][4][7] During this time in August 1954, Ruth's mother died in an airplane crash in Iowa.[3] The Keetons moved to Maryland when Morris helped form an Antioch College campus in Columbia in 1969 with James Rouse.[1][8]

Public service

From 1975 to 1988, Keeton was a member of the Howard County Council, running on a slate of Columbia residents sponsored by the Columbia Democratic Club including Ginny Thomas, Lloyd Knowles and Richard Anderson.[9] Keeton served as council chair from 1979 to 1984,[10] and championed community causes such as affordable housing.[4] In 1981, Governor Harry Hughes appointed Keeton to the Maryland State Housing task force.[11] She was a member of the Patuxent River Commission which produced a land management plan for the river's watershed in 1984.[12]

Illness, death, and legacy

In 1988, Keeton told her husband that she was starting to forget street names. Eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, she was cared for by her husband and died in her home on December 14, 1997. When she left public service for health reasons eight years prior, Howard County leaders dedicated a room with her name in Columbia's Harper's Choice community center. The Ruth Keeton House was also established nearby, on Ruth Keeton Way, to provide assisted living for disabled elderly people.[4][13] The Keetons raised two sons, Gary and Scot, and a daughter, Joan.[4]

References
  1. "Morris Keeton". Yellow Springs News. Yellow Springs, Ohio. May 15, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  2. Michael J Clark (March 8, 1979). "Howard executive wants Keeton to quit transport panel". The Baltimore Sun.
  3. "Open Probe of Airliner Crash. Iowa Storm Downs DC3; Eleven Die". Cedar Rapids Gazette. August 23, 1954. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  4. Morse, Dan (December 17, 1997). "Ruth U. Keeton, 78, longtime councilwoman in Howard County". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  5. Flitcraft, Alice B. (1957). "History of the 57th Street Meeting of Friends 1931–1956" (PDF). 57th Street Meeting of Friends. p. 32. Retrieved December 2, 2014. Ruth and Morris Keeton likewise manned a work camp during this period. These were largely self-help co-operative housing improvement camps, obviously aimed to break down racial discriminations
  6. "Morris T. Keeton, former Acting President at Antioch College, dies". Antioch College. May 9, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014. Keeton served on the faculty of Antioch College from 1947 to 1977
  7. Watson, George H. (1957). "History of the 57th Street Meeting of Friends 1931–1956" (PDF). 57th Street Meeting of Friends. p. 46. Retrieved December 2, 2014. Many members and former members of the Meeting have served abroad with the Committee: ... Morris and Ruth Keeton in Germany
  8. Paul Marx. Jim Rouse: Capitalist/idealist. p. 136.
  9. Joseph Rocco, David L. Stebenne. New City Upon a Hill. p. 112.
  10. "County Council, Howard County, Maryland – Former Members". Maryland State Archives. November 25, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  11. "Keeton heads state housing study group". The Baltimore Sun. July 12, 1981.
  12. "Patuxent River Policy Plan" (PDF). Maryland Department of State Planning. April 1984. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  13. Farmer, Pat (December 20, 2012). "Senior Circles: Winter Growth is Marge Burba's legacy to Howard County". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 6, 2014. the Ruth Keeton House has 16 bedrooms in the assisted living facility and a wellness day care program, which focuses on prevention — health and lifestyle, including brain fitness.
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