Ruth Ward Heaton

Ruth Heaton, age 94, passed away on December 4, 2024. She was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were of English heritage. She grew up in Chicago with her parents and four sisters. 

Ruth received her nursing degree in 1952 from Chicago Community Hospital. She was one of the first "Traveling Nurses," exploring different parts of the country with her friends - working at Rose Hospital in Denver for six months, moving on to New York and back to Chicago, where they worked at the University of Chicago. 

She spent a year in Tunisia in 1969-70 working on the Hospital Ship Hope. She loved to travel and spent three months touring through Europe as well as two weeks hiking through Norway. 

She enjoyed Colorado, so moved back to work at Denver General (now Denver Health) and then St. Luke's Hospital. She also attended Colorado University and received her Bachelor of Science degree. 

She remembers hearing the great soprano, Lily Pons, sing at Red Rocks in 1952. She enjoyed hiking and was a member of the Colorado Mountain Club for many years. In 1970 she bought a house in Aurora, deciding to make Denver her "real" home. When she retired, her first trip was to the Holy Land, which was a very important experience in her life. 

She met an anesthesiologist in her work and married him in 2007. He had two sons and one daughter and two grandchildren, They lived in Littleton before moving to Clermont Park in February of 2013 because of the health benefits here. Her husband's health deteriorated and he died in 2014. 

She has always enjoyed theater and concerts and continued to participate in those events with her friends. 

Ruth will be cremated and her ashes spread in the mountains, in the outdoors she so greatly enjoyed throughout her life.