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Returning to the Cincinnati area, Ruth was determined to have her children follow the Catholic faith of her parents. After moving to Milford, Ohio she fell under the guidance of Father Otto Herrmann the parish priest at St. Andrews Church. Don't misjudge what I'm saying in the light of the current priestly scandals of today. Father Herrmann was "Old School" German. He was Bing Crosby in The Bells Of St. Mary's. He was all man and he was 100% a dedicated and faithful priest. He could be stern and kind hearted within the same sentence. My mother adored him and it was so obvious that she had finally found the father figure to replace the one so painfully torn away from her. Father Herrmann would call her "Ruthie" and you could see a daughter's gleam in her eyes when he spoke to her. She eventually went to work in the parish school cafeterias but her ties to Father Herrmann were spiritual and not monetary. He guided her to return to the church which in those days ostracized her for marrying outside the faith and for practicing birth control. It was at the teaching of Father Herrmann that my father converted to the Catholic Faith and my mother's life was suddenly full and complete. Certainly her marriage was quite stormy at times. Bitter arguments often bounced off the walls of the small house but she did her part to hold the family together with her will and her faith. However fate continued to plot against her. Father Herrmann died suddenly in 1960 (auto accident) and my mother entered her first real period of severe depression. It was as if she was orphaned a second time and she was virtually inconsolable. |
