Ruth Katz

Feb 13, 1954 -

Apr 18, 2022

Ruth Katz was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Feb. 13, 1954. She passed away peacefully on April 18, 2022, from complications due to multiple sclerosis.

Ruth's parents, Irving and Johanna, met during World War II at a concentration camp, where Irving was a Jewish inmate and Johanna was a Lutheran nurse. After the war they immigrated to Brooklyn and had three daughters.

Ruth earned a degree in Theatre Arts at Kingsborough Community College, and designed costumes. She met Donna from Alaska and moved to Anchorage with her in 1976, where she joined the theater scene. In 1982, she earned a B.A. in theater from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

During 13 years in Alaska, Ruth directed plays and worked on sets and costumes. She worked with Alaska Repertory Theatre, ACT and other groups.

She moved to New Jersey in 1989, where she worked for several theater companies. She worked in film and TV in New York and New Jersey. IMDB.com lists four film credits as Set Dresser. From 1996-2005, Ruth worked on 25-plus films, several TV series and soap operas.

Ruth loved teaching, sewing drapery and doing upholstery work. She taught hand sewing courses at Fashion Institute of Technology from 2006-11. In her free time, she taught neighbor girls to make dolls and sew clothes.

Ruth spent her final years in The Actors Home in Englewood, N.J. She was so loved by friends, 40 people pitched in to help buy an electric wheelchair when she could no longer walk.

Ruth is preceded in death by her parents; and older sister, Maria. She is survived by her younger sister, Bette Doerfert; and nephew, David Butler. She leaves behind her core group of "Ruth's Girls," friends Linda, Donna, Denise and Justine. They helped keep her in chocolates, books and sanity through the toughest of times.

Cremation was by Bradley Funeral Home in New Jersey. Celebrations of Life via Zoom are TBD. Ruth requested her ashes be scattered over Cook Inlet in Anchorage.