Ruth Willner
Ruth Mariam Willner, August 21, 1929 - February 28, 2012, was a Los Angeles activist.
- It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Ruth M. Willner on February 28, 2012. Ruth passed away peacefully, surrounded by family after a valiant 1 year fight against pancreatic cancer. She will be remembered as a crusader for justice, devoting her entire life to numerous social and political causes. Her passion for humanism lives on in the many lives she touched and influenced.
She was preceded in death in 2006 by her husband of 56 years, Irving Willner, who was her comrade in the fight against inequality and oppression. She leaves behind her son Paul Willner, daughter Julia Parker and granddaughter Eryn Willner, who was her shining star and a beacon of light to carry the torch for future generations to come. She leaves behind her ever-loving brother Larry Steinhart.[1]
Praise from Judy Chu
A Roosevelt High School graduate and long-time Monterey Park community activist, Ruth Willner, who passed away Feb. 28, 2012, after a battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 82, received kudos from House Representative Judy Chu on the floor of Congress.
During her remarks, Chu credited Willner with heading up a campaign against a proposed English-only ordinance in Monterey Park. Willner co-founded the Committee for Harmony to fight “anti-immigrant” measures being proposed in the city, Chu said.
In 2008 when a play was written about the time, Willner told EGP that while English-only sentiment has subsided, there are still some in the city who complain about its linguistic makeup, which has shifted over the years from being a majority English-speaking neighborhood, to one in which the languages of minorities are hard to miss.
“The old-timers are still here, learning to live with it, but… they’re always muttering about something… they still miss not having the Trader Joes shop, they miss not having the bookstore with English books in it. They miss, they miss, they miss,” she told EGP.
Background
Willner, grew up Jewish in East Los Angeles.
At a recent city council meeting, Monterey Park Councilman Mitchell Ing pointed out that it was Willner who successfully fought to keep the library board in existence when there was talk of disbanding it.
Chu said Willner was a “true believer in the political process” who was active in a variety of community issues that Chu said are “too many… to name here,” including the city’s Blue Ribbon Budget Committee, the School District Formation Committee, Friends of the Library, Concerned Citizens, and committees against casinos and billboards.
Chu closed her remarks on the House floor, saying, “I urge my House colleagues to join me in honoring Mrs. Ruth Willner for her record of civic activism, her indomitable spirit and her remarkable service and contributions to her community and to our nation.”
In 2005 when she retired from her role as the newsletter editor for the Monterey Park Democratic Club, then Congresswoman Hilda Solis, noted Willner was the “newsletter’s only reporter, writer and editor” and that “her work played an integral role in keeping members up to date and in touch.”
Willner, attended Roosevelt High School, Los Angeles Community College, and the University of California, Berkeley, and was a 52-year resident of Monterey Park. Her husband of 56 years, Irving Willner, who died six years ago, was also a community activist.[2]