In Memoriam: Longtime Fair Havenite, Avid Volunteer and Community Activist, Ruth Blaser, 88

Longtime Fair Havenite, avid volunteer and iconic community activist, Ruth A. Blaser, passed away peacefully on March 28, “surrounded by the love of her family.” She was 88.

Flanked by officials, volunteer Ruth Blaser and pint-sized fans, Fair Haven Recreation and Special Events Director Charlie Hoffmann says goodbye in 2014. Photo/Elaine Van Develde

“Ruth was very active in and devoted to the Fair Haven community. She coached girls’ softball, was a Webelo den mother and International Representative for the Boy Scouts of America, member of the PTA, an election poll worker and Selected Service representative.

“One of her favorite Fair Haven organizations was the Fire Department, where she had many friends and enjoyed pitching in at the annual Spaghetti Dinner and Firemen’s Fair.

“Beyond Fair Haven, she volunteered with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Visiting Nurses Association’s hospice program and Planned Parenthood and was a member of the Junior League. Ruth was also on the team that initiated First Night Red Bank, was secretary of First Night New Jersey and a board member of First Night Ocean County.

“She was active in the senior communities of Fair Haven, Red Bank and Sea Bright, where she held various leadership roles and enjoyed casual get-togethers with the lunch-bunch group and fellow bingo enthusiasts.

“Her calling though, was closer to home in Fair Haven where she was a long-standing member and an active and impactful voice of the town’s Concerned Citizen organization, a watchdog organization of Borough Council activities, and a committee leader of the Be a Good Neighbor program.

“Ruth was able to live out her commitment to create a community that respected and engaged its senior citizens and confronted borough matters that threatened the ability of the town’s seniors to afford to live in a town they were part of creating decades earlier.

“She was a force to be reckoned with and a voice of reason for the community that will have impact for years to come. Fellow Fair Haven residents may also recall that Ruth had a penchant for seeing value in everything, which fed her perennial yard sales and availability of items to the free-cycle community where she was fondly known by her email monicker, houselady.”
Loved ones of Ruth Blaser in her obituary

More about Ruth Blaser …

Born on Dec. 12, 1937, in Elizabeth to Ruth M. Ohlson and Leo A. Hauser, Ruth was the eldest of Ruth and Leo’s five children. She spent her early years in Elizabeth and was active as a Rainbow Girl under the Order of the Eastern Star and as a Girl Scout. Ruth was a proud graduate of Battin High School in Elizabeth, where she earned various achievement awards and was a member of the cheerleading squad.

“She was a consummate learner and, among other high school accomplishments, mastered typing which served her well later in life, especially with the advent of word processors.”

Ruth married Edward R. Blaser, of Roselle Park, in December of 1955 and the couple lived in Avenel, Ocean Gate and Rumson and had four sons, Douglas E., Robert F., Brian S. and Thomas E. Blaser.

After they divorced in 1965, Ruth and her sons moved to Fair Haven in 1968 where she lived until her passing.

Early in her career, Ruth served as a legal secretary at local law firms, was a legislative aide and worked on the administrative team at the YMCA of Red Bank. But her career passion for more than 50 years was residential real estate sales. She was active as a realtor until her death, working at local offices of firms such as A. Fred Mafeo, Gloria Nilson, E.A. Armstrong, Long and Foster and Compass Realty.

Ruth is predeceased by: her parents and grandson Nathaniel (Brian).

She is survived by: her siblings, Marjorie Norton, Richard, Alan and Jeffery Hauser; her four sons and their families, including three daughters-in-law, Pat (Douglas), Elaine (Brian) and Donna (Thomas); eight grandchildren, Fallon, Curtis and Elliott (Douglas), Mackenzee and Bryce (Robert), Simon (Brian), Sarah and Erin (Wright) (Thomas); and six great-grandchildren, Luna, Zelda, Oriana and Leonardo (Douglas), and Charlotte and Harrison Wright (Thomas).

“Hers was a life well lived and we are proud and very fortunate to have had her as our sister, mother, grandmother and great grandmother and as a role model for our family and the community she loved passionately.”

In true form, rather than having a memorial service, Ruth preferred to let her life work speak for itself in the hearts and minds of those that knew her and for her remains to be cremated. As a generous giver, she also knew the joy of giving and asked that any person wishing to experience that joy, direct contributions to either Planned Parenthood, 69 Newman Springs Rd., Shrewsbury, NJ 07702, Clean Ocean Action, 49 Avenel Blvd, Long Branch, NJ 07740 or a charity of your choosing.

— Edited obituary prepared by family via Thompson Memorial Home