Laura Ruth Hindman Balch, 92, formerly of Chattanooga, died on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009, at a nursing home in Reston, Va.
Ruth was born in Beaverdale, Pa., the fifth of ten children of Thomas F. and Larkey Boucher Hindman. She grew up in Johnstown, Pa. and graduated in 1939 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia.
A decorated World War II hero, Ruth enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps in 1940 and served with the second Auxiliary Surgical Group, part of the U.S. Fifth Army under Gen. Mark Clark. The Group sailed from New York on the British ship Andes to Casablanca, Morocco and initially lived in tents on the Sultan’s Race Track at Rabat, performing surgery, learning French, map reading, use of gas masks, and how to use one helmet full of water daily for bathing and washing clothes.
Ruth’s orthopedic surgical team worked with the British 95th General (Hospital) in Algiers, then traveled to various field hospitals across Italy to treat wounded soldiers. The surgical team operated in tents, standing in mud and braving cold weather and enemy shelling.
At one field hospital near Bizerte Bob Hope entertained the troops; at another the famed Life Magazine photographer Margaret Bourke-White spent time with Ruth and the other nurses, chronicling their adventures in her book “Purple Heart Valley.”
Ruth witnessed significant European battles, including the Allies’ bombing of Monte Casino and the invasions of Anzio, Naples and Salerno, Italy.
Ruth was assigned to two British hospital ships, stationed off the coast of Salerno, Italy. Each ship was clearly marked according to Geneva Convention regulations with prominent white crosses, indicating that they were medical vessels; but the Germans bombed both ships anyway and they sunk.
Each time Ruth was lucky to survive. For wounds received in action, she received the Purple Heart as well as the Bronze Star for meritorious service that included training surgical technicians and shock teams in the field.
Evelyn Monahan and Rosemary Niedel-Greenlee (2004) highlighted Ruth’s World War II experiences in “And If I Perish: Frontline U.S. Army Nurses.” Ruth was also included in a PBS documentary “A Testament to Freedom,” sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans commemorating the 2004 dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC.
Ruth returned to the United States in 1944 with the rank of captain and was chief surgical nurse at England General Hospital in Atlantic City, N.J. There she met Lee Balch, a Navy radar specialist and electrical engineer from Birmingham, Al. They married in 1945, left the service when the war ended, and moved to Knoxville, where Lee worked for Westinghouse Corporation.
They later relocated to Kingsport, Tn. In the early 1950s Lee entered St. Luke’s Seminary at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tn. He was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1954, and his first assignment was St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Woodstock, Tn. He also served as a chaplain at the U.S. Naval Station at nearby Millington, Tn.
Ruth, Lee and their three children enjoyed the many friends they made in each place through the years.
In 1956 Lee accepted a call to Grace Episcopal Church in Chattanooga, where he served for 22 years until his retirement in 1978. Ruth was involved with church activities, the Engineers’ Wives Auxiliary, the local Purple Heart chapter, and other voluntary endeavors.
While Lee worked on his master’s degree in Sewanee during the summers in the 1960s, Ruth also taught Head Start classes and provided nursing skills to local residents. She also worked during these years for Parkridge Hospital, Stanrich Studio, and Dr. Winborn B. Willingham.
Ruth was an excellent amateur painter and ceramist. She and Lee loved to travel, and they enjoyed their trips to Hong Kong, Europe, the Caribbean, and places throughout the U.S.
A devoted wife and mother, Ruth doted on her grandchildren and was their favorite babysitter and biggest supporter. Her husband, Lee, and her son, Thomas C. Balch, of Dallas, Texas, preceded her in death.
Ruth is survived by two brothers, Robert Hindman (Ruth) of Johnstown and John Hindman of Palm Harbor, Fl.; sister-in-law, Helen Martinson, of Seguin, Texas; daughters, Laura Scherzer of Gaithersburg, Md., and Martha Granda (Tom) of Reston, Va.; daughter-in-law, Sharon Balch, of Dallas, Texas; four grandchildren, Michael (Daphne) Scherzer, of Ringgold, Ga., Joelly (Peter) Belman, of N. Potomac, Md., Jessica (Matt) Bonness, of Vienna, Va., and Evan Balch, of Dallas, Texas; five great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be scheduled in Chattanooga at a future date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions in Ruth’s memory to Capital Hospice, 6565 Arlington Blvd, Suite 500, Falls Church, VA 22042, or Grace Episcopal Church, 15 Belvoir Ave., Chattanooga, Tn. 37411.