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Aging advocate is full steam ahead at 99
Nadel said her family instilled her with morals and respect from an early age. She described her childhood positively. “I have been blessed with a good childhood, good parents and siblings.” Nadel said she had a particularly close relationship with her grandmother. Good manners were heavily emphasized
tend classes the next. Nadel has since tried unsuccessfully to replicate the program, because it satisfied the students’ need for both an education and work experience. In 1934, Nadel received her master’s degree in education. In 1937, she married Harry Nadel, and they moved to Washington, D.C., where she continued to work as an unpaid volunteer. After her husband’s work as a psychologist took the family to Santa Barbara, Calif., she and a friend set up the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara in 1962. They called the city’s Ruth Nadel, who turns 100 in February, has volunteered wealthy “big-shots” and in- at various nonprofits for much of her adult life. She vited them to lunch, she joined the D.C. Commission on Aging earlier this year explained with a wink. and is active in many other advocacy groups, such as the Clearinghouse on Women’s issues. After pitching them the foundation idea, she asked, “Who would higher education. According to her, the like to serve on the board of directors?” fund’s board is still dominated by the city’s She felt the title would lend the wealthy a wealthy, who keep it running. humanitarian reputation, and their donaA government job in her 50s tions would fund the program. Nadel and her husband raised a family Indeed, many of them raised their hands, in Santa Barbara, but eventually moved and they named Nadel the first chairman of the board. The program continues to funcSee AGING ADVOCATE, page 50 tion, and is open to all students pursuing a
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A supportive childhood
in her family. In fact, Nadel once won a national essay competition with her essay, “The Meaning and Value of Manners.” She said many now don’t seem to understand how important those skills are. Even as her upbringing helped lead her to a career in volunteering, that career itself further solidified her respect for others. A neighbor asked her if she was proud of her son’s accomplishments. She replied, “I’m not proud. I’m grateful.” Nadel said she discovered that appreciating life’s blessings was the best attitude. Despite the clearly delineated gender roles of the times when she was growing up, she says her family treated her equally. “I always felt equal to the men in my family. We had a four boys, so they didn’t know how to treat me differently.” After graduating from Hunter College High School at age 15, Nadel was awarded a four-year scholarship to Cornell, but due to the Depression, her family had to turn it down. A New York native, she enrolled instead at City College in Manhattan (now Baruch College), which had a prestigious business school and had just begun to accept women students. Nadel majored in vocational education and put it to use with her first job, volunteering for a program that taught business skills to immigrant children. The program matched the students with an employer, such as Macy’s. The students would work for one week at their job and at-
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHEVY CHASE HOUSE
By Rebekah Sewell Ruth Nadel will turn 100 in February, but she has never let age slow her down. The self-proclaimed “professional volunteer” has kept herself very busy. And why not? “I don’t feel a bit different than I did 20 years ago,” she said. Nadel has been active in the Women’s National Democratic Club, and was recently renamed a member of the D.C. Commission on Aging. She was also a founding member of the Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues, an organization that provides information on gender, age-related, economic, educational, health and legal public policies to improve the status of women here and abroad. Some may think all her responsibilities would be overwhelming, especially at her age, but Nadel attributes her longevity to her volunteerism. “Volunteerism works two ways. You are your own boss. If you take advantage of it, it does you some good, and it also does someone else some good,” said Nadel, who lives at Chevy Chase House in Washington, D.C.
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