Dates

• Existence: 1922 - 2007

Biography

Ruth Henriette Salzmann Becker, a nurse and community activist, was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1922 to Hans and Kethe Salzmann. As a young Jewish woman in 1939, Salzmann fled Nazi Germany by way of England, while her parents and younger sister Eva left via Cuba. The family met again in New York in 1940. Ruth Salzmann received her R.N. in 1945 from Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing in New York City and her B.S. and M.S. from Columbia University Teachers College in 1950 and 1952 respectively. From 1947 to 1952, Salzmann worked as an instructor of medical nursing at the Mount Sinai Hospital School of Nursing. Ruth Salzmann married Samuel Becker in 1953. Together they raised three children. After her marriage, Ruth Becker worked part time in the College of Nursing at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. After her youngest child, Anne, was born with Downs syndrome, Becker become active in various organizations that serve disabled persons, including the Arc of Southeast Iowa (formerly the Association for Retarded Citizens), Goodwill Industries of Southeast Iowa, and Families, Inc. She was also active in the Johnson County Democratic Women's Club and numerous other organizations. Becker has been featured in Who's Who in World Jewry, Who's Who in American Jewry, and American Jews: Their Lives and Achievements. She died in 2007.

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