Ruth Redmond

Details

Inductee: Ruth Redmond

Year inducted: 2008

About:

Born on August 22, 1902, in Holleford, Ontario, Ruth Redmond was a proud United Empire Loyalist descendant. She came to Niagara Falls to teach at Stamford Collegiate in 1926 and lived here until her death in 1999.

Ruth recognized how significant a crossroads the Battle of Lundy’s Lane had been in shaping our destiny and identity. She believed passionately that the site should be preserved and never used for commercial purposes. Ruth bought her first battlefield property in 1954. When the various levels of government failed to protect the battlefield lands, she added five more properties over the years. She lovingly transformed them into gardens called “Redmond Heights”.

Ruth won many Trillium Awards over the years for the beautiful gardens she created. Wanting to see the lands she preserved from developers kept for future generations, she donated them in their entirety to the City of Niagara Falls in 1996. The Battle Ground Hotel Museum was a part of her gift.

On the bright, sunny morning of Easter Monday 1999, Ruth passed away peacefully at her beloved home atop “Redmond Heights”. She was 96 years old. The previous evening, a four-part documentary film, War of 1812, had premiered on TV Ontario. Ruth appears in the film’s epilogue, speaking wistfully of the death of remembrance for “the boys” who died at Lundy’s Lane. Her passing, the next morning, struck a chord across the nation. It was noted nationally in the media, with coverage in the CBC’s The National, Mclean’s Magazine, and the National Post.