October 4, 2020

Finest Hour 189, Third Quarter 2020

Page 49

This spring the oldest member of the International Churchill Society celebrated her 100th birthday. Ruth Lavine was born in Germany in 1920. Her family came to the United States when she was thirteen in order to escape the Nazis. Ruth earned her law degree from the University of Southern California in 1943 and became an estate planning attorney.

“My husband was in the US military during the Second World War. When we started dating in 1940, he would read Winston Churchill’s most recent speeches to me, and we avidly followed his career. Our son Raymond told us about the Churchill Society, and joining was one of the best decisions we made. We took wonderful trips with other Churchillians and got to meet Lady Soames and Celia Sandys.

“After my husband died in 1994, I continued attending Churchill gatherings. I look forward to each one and meeting with all the wonderful people. I love history, and each conference gives me more insight about one of the greatest statesmen in history.