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Ellis Dead at 101
Ellis Dead at 101
Ruth Ellis, known as the oldest out lesbian, died in her sleep last month at her home in Detroit. She was 101.
“I’m just an ordinary little woman,” she once told a reporter from the Boston Globe. But the 48-inch tall, 83-pound woman known as Ruth by most everyone she encountered led an extraordinary life.
On Sept. 9, Ellis attended a celebration of the opening of Detroit’s Ruth Ellis Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth. Each February, that city celebrates Ruth Ellis Day as part of Black History Month. And she was the subject of an award-winning documentary by Yvonne Welbon titled “Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis at 100.”
Bev Youree of Richford, VT knew the diminuitive black woman through their mutual involvement in Golden Threads, an organization set up to connect older lesbians to one another.
Youree said she’ll always remember meeting Ellis. “Here was this tiny black 96-year-old woman telling us about the job she had in the retirement home where she lived.”
Ellis, it seemed, went door to door within the high rise building getting her neighbors’ shopping lists. She would then head out to the store to procure the needed items for “the old folks” as she called them.
“She was easily 20 years older than most of the people she was running errands for!” said Youree. “She lived her life as she saw fit; she was an inspiration to all of us.”