BITTEN, RUTH April 2003 by Dick Engelhardt
Ruth Wachter and Henry Bitten grew up in Paterson where Henry attended St. Paul's Lutheran School and Ruth attended School 10. They were both baptized and confirmed at St. Luke's Lutheran Church at 5th and Madison Avenues and lived nearby. Both attended Paterson Eastside High School. Ruth graduated in 1942 and remembers classmates from Fair Lawn who went to Eastside before Fair Lawn High opened in 1943. Fair Lawn students from the Columbia Heights section near Lincoln Avenue attended Hawthorne High while those from the Radburn section attended Ridgewood High. One of her classmates was Larry Doby who was a big star at Eastside in football, baseball and basketball. Weeks after Jackie Robinson became the first black major league baseball player with the National League Brooklyn Dodgers, Larry Doby became the first black American League player with the Cleveland Indians. He contributed greatly to the Indians' 1948 World Series Championship. Doby lives in Montclair now and last year the new Larry Doby baseball field on Rt. 20 in Paterson was dedicated in his honor.Ruth and Henry were married in 1946 and raised three children. Henry lives in Oakland with his wife, Elaine, and children Brian and Kylene. Ruthann Haas lives in Ringwood with her husband, Tom, and children Susan and Nicholas. Robert lives in Hillsborough with his wife, Sharon, and children Matthew and twins Michael and Melissa.
Henry was a manager for Grand Union for over 50 years before retiring. He loved children and was a crossing guard in Oakland, where the family had moved in 1969, until he died July 19, 1999, the day after St. Luke's Lutheran Church closed. At St. Luke's, Henry served as president, trustee, elder, financial secretary and Sunday school superintendent at various times. Ruth was president of the Ladies Guild and a Sunday school teacher and served as secretary to the church council. She is still involved with the St. Luke's Trust Fund.
When St. Luke's closed most of the members, including Ruth, began to attend Our Savior. They joined our church in 2000. Ruth is a member of our Dorcas Guild and the quilting group as well as our welcome committee. She also keeps active working part time as secretary at the Midland Park United Methodist Church and part time for Oakland Drugs, owned by Jeff Hertel and his brother, Jim. Say hello to Ruth and let her know how glad we are to have her with us at Our Savior
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