Ruth Urice Keeton (1919 – December 14, 1997) was a member and chairperson of the Howard County Council in Maryland. In addition to this elected office, she was appointed to serve with multiple state committees including the Baltimore Regional Transportation Committee and Housing Task Force.

Early life

Ruth Urice was born in

Vinton, Iowa Vinton is a city in Benton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,938 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 5,102 in 2000. It is also part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area. Vinton is the county seat of Benton County. ...

, in 1919 to Mr. and Mrs. Logan Urice. Her father later retired as the postmaster of Vinton and her mother had a master's degree in home economics. She had two brothers, Logan Jr. and Kadel, and a sister, Mrs. John Drilling. Ruth attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in the latter 1930s and graduated as a

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

member. She met Morris Keeton outside Chicago in 1943 and they married in 1944. Early in their relationship, Ruth and Morris manned an inter-racial work camp for their Quaker church in Chicago, intended to break down racial discrimination.

Antioch College

The couple moved to

Yellow Springs, Ohio Yellow Springs is a Village (Ohio), village in northern Greene County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,697 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area and is home to Antioch ...

, in 1947 when Morris began a 30-year tenure with

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

. Morris taught in Germany in the mid-1950s while Ruth worked abroad for the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker)-founded'' organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by ...

. During this time in August 1954, Ruth's mother died in an airplane crash in Iowa. In 1969, the Keetons moved to Maryland where Morris helped form an Antioch College campus in Columbia with

James Rouse James Wilson Rouse (April 26, 1914 – April 9, 1996) was an American businessman and founder of The Rouse Company. Rouse was a pioneering American real estate developer, urban planner, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthr ...

Public service

From 1975 to 1988, Keeton was a member of the Howard County Council, running on a

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of Columbia residents sponsored by the Columbia Democratic Club including Ginny Thomas, Lloyd Knowles and Richard Anderson. Keeton served as council chair from 1979 to 1984, and championed community causes such as affordable housing. In 1981, Governor

Harry Hughes Harry Roe Hughes (November 13, 1926 – March 13, 2019) was an American politician from the Democratic Party who served as the 57th Governor of Maryland from 1979 to 1987. Early life and family Hughes was born in Easton, Maryland, the ...

appointed Keeton to the Maryland State Housing task force. She was a member of the

Patuxent River The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeas ...

Commission which produced a

land management Land management is the process of managing the land use, use and development of land resources. Those resources are used for a variety of purposes for example agriculture, forestry, water resource management, Human settlement, human settlements an ...

plan for the river's

watershed Watershed may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage) Music * Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...

in 1984.

Illness, death, and legacy

In 1988, Keeton told her husband that she was starting to forget street names. Eventually diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, she was cared for by her husband and died in her home on December 14, 1997. When she left public service for health reasons eight years prior, Howard County leaders dedicated a room with her name in Columbia's Harper's Choice community center. The Ruth Keeton House was also established nearby, on Ruth Keeton Way, to provide assisted living for disabled elderly people. The Keetons raised two sons, Gary and Scot, and a daughter, Joan. Morris died on April 10, 2014, at age 97.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keeton, Ruth 1919 births 1997 deaths Northwestern University alumni People from Vinton, Iowa People from Yellow Springs, Ohio People from Columbia, Maryland County commissioners in Maryland Maryland Democrats 20th-century Maryland politicians