By Kath Gannaway
RUTH Heiderich would have more than held her own with the career woman of the new millennium.
A wife, mother, potter, curator, tourism operator, friend and community member, she walked the many paths of an interesting and fulfilled life. Most importantly, she did it with dignity, compassion and success.
Ruth and husband Nick along with their young family, David and Astrid, moved to Badger Creek in 1964, fulfilling a dream to build and run a contemporary art gallery in one of Melbourne’s promising tourist areas.
For more than 40 years, Healesville Art Gallery and Lapidary was pivotal to every aspect of Ruth’s life.
In moving tributes to their mother, David and Astrid spoke of a fascinating and rich life in which artists, sculptors, potters, jewellers, opal miners, musicians, politicians, authors, even a pop-star or two, came through the doors of the gallery. Many became friends, adding to the many home-grown friendships Ruth nurtured and enjoyed throughout her life.
Ruth Elsbeth Leske was born at Jeparit on 14 December 1920, the eldest of Lutheran Minister Adolph and Alma Leske’s five children.
Life-long characteristics including tolerance, patience and a strong sense of discipline were attributed by David to growing up in the western district town of Rainbow with four younger, fairly boisterous brothers – Clemens, Everard, Elmore and David, now deceased.
Ruth maintained her Christian values and her connection with the Lutheran Church throughout her life.
While working as a secretary in Box Hill in the mid-50s Ruth fell in love with migrant artist Nicholas Heiderich. The couple were married at Box Hill Lutheran Church in 1957.
“Dad had a creative mind and painted landscape pictures, made pottery and jewellery. Mum was more organised and pragmatic and had skills attuned to business management,” David said.
Their complementary talents proved to be the makings of a successful business and career for them both.
David said the 1960s was an adventure of activities for Ruth with children and school, learning to drive a car, trips to Adelaide to visit family, the business to run, a garden and pets to look after, and church to go to on Sundays.
When Nick introduced his passion for gemstones into the business, Ruth’s pragmatism demanded that she too explore this new “product”.
Visits, with David and Astrid in tow, to gem and lapidary exhibitions all around Melbourne in search of an even wider variety of gems for the gallery became part of the family’s busy schedule.
In the 1970s Ruth became more involved with local business organisations, including the Healesville Tourism Association where she served as secretary for a time.
At the same time she expanded her interest in art and crafts including making pottery and joining the Floral Art Society and Healesville Spinners and Weavers Group.
Group member and friend Dot Harsant said Ruth was a staunch supporter of the group, a gentle person who touched upon many areas of arts and crafts in the Healesville district. She would be remembered with great affection, Mrs Harsant said.
Joining Healesville Probus Club provided another opportunity to expand her circle of friends.
“Mum loved meeting new people and seemed to look out for opportunities to help others,” Astrid said.
She recalled trips with her mother delivering grocery hampers, donations to charities and jobs around the gallery for people her mother felt needed a little help financially.
Following their father’s sudden death in 1979 David returned home to work in the gallery and Ruth embraced the opportunity to devote more time to her pottery. Exhibitions, workshops and pottery school became part of a passion which brought her enormous pleasure over the next two decades.
Though she had vowed never to retire, faced in 2000 with the introduction of the GST, a complicating factor in what had for years been a simple but professionally run business, Ruth decided retirement was the better option after all.
David said the next six years were good retirement years that Ruth managed to fill with the many good things in her life.
Having had a happy childhood, Ruth endowed the same gift on David and Astrid. Their childhood memories include bedtime stories, healthy cut lunches every day, cooked breakfasts and being met by their mum as they stepped from the school bus each day.
Later, Astrid said, Ruth showered the same love and attention on her grandchildren, Karri, Liana and Danika.
“Mum loved the girls dearly and they love, admire and respect her immensely. She was a wonderful Nana,” Astrid said.
David added that Ruth loved the Nana role. “Doting on them provided some of the times of her life,” he said.
The last two years were more difficult for Ruth who endured a number of illnesses. Having had a short stay at Monda Lodge in Healesville in the latter part of last year, Ruth was looking forward to seeing out her days renewing old friendships and no doubt making new ones.
It was not to be however. Illness struck again and Ruth passed away on Wednesday, 28 November, 2007.
A gentlewoman in every sense of the word, Ruth Heiderich will be greatly missed by her family, friends and colleagues in the art world.
She is survived by her children David and Astrid, grandchildren Karri, Liana and Danika and her brothers Clemens, Everard and Elmore.
