Ruth Fertel

Ruth Fertel (February 5, 1927 - April 16, 2002) is the founder of Ruth's Chris Steak Houses.

Related Topics:
February 5 - 1927 - April 16 - 2002 - Ruth's Chris Steak House

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February 5, 1927 ? Ruth Ann Udstad is born in New Orleans. The same day, Chris Matulich opens Chris Steak House on the corner of Broad and Ursuline.

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1932 ? Five-year-old Ruth moves with her family to her mother?s birthplace, the town of Homeplace, Louisiana, in Plaquemines Parish. Despite having to endure the hardship of the Great Depression, Ruth enjoys her life growing up with her brother Sig.

Related Topics:
Louisiana - Plaquemines Parish

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1933 ? An extremely bright and competitive child, Ruth skips several grades in grammar school.

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1942-1946 ? Ruth attends LSU in Baton Rouge, entering at the tender age of 15. An aptitude for mathematics prompts her to pursue degrees in Chemistry and Physics.

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1946 ? Upon graduating from LSU, Ruth lands a job teaching at McNeese State University. The majority of her students are football players who not only towered over the petite Ruth but are actually older than her. The players are not a very well-mannered bunch, to put it mildly, and Ruth resigned after just two semesters.

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1948 ? Ruth marries Rodney Fertel, who lives in Baton Rouge and shares her love of horses.

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1949-1950 ? Ruth and Rodney welcome their first son, Jerome ?Jerry? Sylvian Fertel, born March 15, 1959. The next year, Jerry would get a brother, Randy Julian Fertel.

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1951 ? Ruth and Rodney open a racing stable in Baton Rouge. With her love of horses, Ruth would earn a Thoroughbred trainer?s license, making her the first female horse trainer in Louisiana.

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1958 ? For many years, Ruth and Rodney lived the good life ? training horses, fishing, hunting and traveling the world with her children. But after a decade of marriage, the relationship had deteriorated greatly, and Ruth filed for divorce.

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1961 ? Unable to provide for her sons on alimony alone, Ruth calls upon her degree in Chemistry and Physics to land a position as a lab technician at Tulane Medical School.

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1965 ? Ruth browses the classifieds section of the Times-Picayune and spots an ad reading ?Steak House for Sale.? Driven by an inherent entrepreneurial spirit, she mortgages her house to purchase the little restaurant on the corner of Broad and Ursuline in New Orleans.

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September, 1965 ? The city of New Orleans is ravaged by Hurricane Betsy just a few months after Ruth purchased Chris Steak House. The restaurant is left without power, and Ruth knows all of the food in the cooler would spoil. She cooks everything in the cooler and brings it to her brother in devastated Plaquemines Parish to aid in the relief effort.

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1976 ? Ruth Fertel and her steak house are thriving when a kitchen fire erupts, destroying the restaurant and leaving Ruth in a difficult situation. She plows forward with her characteristic determination. She bought a new property a few blocks away on Broad Street and soon opened under a new name, Ruth's Chris, since her original contract with Chris Matulich precluded her from using the name Chris Steak House in a different location.

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1976 ? After years of failed attempts, Tom Moran, a regular customer and business owner from Baton Rouge, convinces a hesitant Ruth to let him open the first Ruth?s Chris franchise. It opens on Airlinge Highway in Baton Rouge.

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1976 ? Other friends and associates begin repeatedly asking to open their own franchises. Though she was reluctant at first, Ruth begins awarding more and more franchises. In time, her Ruth?s Chris franchisees became part of her extended family.

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1980's ? With additional franchises and company expansion, the little corner steak house grows into a global phenomenon with restaurants opening every year in cities around the nation and the world, including one as far away as Hong Kong. Ruth becomes somewhat an icon herself and his dubbed by her peers The First Lady of American Restaurants.

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1992 ? Ruth is recognized by Inc. Magazine as Regional Entrepreneur of the Year.

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1995 ? Ruth is one of nine people named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Horatio Alger Association.

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2001 ? Ruth is presented with the Ella Brennan Savoir Faire Award.

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April 16, 2002 ? After a long battle with cancer, Ruth dies at age 75. She was revered by her family, friends and employees, and on the day that she was laid to rest they gathered to celebrate the life of a woman who never lost her warmth, her enthusiasm, or her love of a life well-spent.

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