Ruth H. Cowan

Ruth Helen Daitzman Cowan was born on June 4, 1924 to Benjamin and Bertha (Becky) Daitzman in Union City, NJ. Ruth’s favorite childhood memories were from attending Camp Reena in Upstate NY (now Ramah of the Bershires) where she was crowned All-Round Camper. Ruth first attended college at NYU but transferred to Syracuse University her second year. Upon graduation from college, she entered a new Physical Therapy program at Harvard. In her career as a physical therapist, Ruth first worked with polio patients in Massachusetts and then worked at Valley Hospital, Paramus, NJ. Ruth’s greatest contributions as a Physical Therapist were creating two programs: the first was a Physical and Group Therapy program helping women recover from mastectomies at the time when they were very invasive. The program lasted for many years and impacted hundreds of women in the tri-state area. The second program was ‘Swim-In’ for people with Multiple Sclerosis. This program combined water therapy and group therapy. The program is still active today, again impacting hundreds if not thousands of people. Sadly, many years after Ruth started the program, her oldest daughter Laurie was diagnosed and ultimately died from Multiple Sclerosis.

Ruth was a dedicated volunteer. In addition to her Swim-In volunteerism, she was very active in National Council of Jewish Women and American Jewish Committee where she served in most of the regional leadership roles, earning NCJW’s coveted Hannah G Solomon award twice, AJC Human Relations Award, and a Presidential Citation from President Reagan for Volunteerism from the National Center of Voluntary Action. In 2023, Ruth was chosen as a Woman of the Century by the Bergen County NJ chapter of NCJW.

Ruth loved crossword puzzles, folk dancing, bird watching, hiking and travel. Wally and she travelled to 6 continents and meticulously planned the trips herself even before and after the internet simplified travel.

Ruth was predeceased by her husband, Wallace Cowan, to whom she was married for 71 years, and her daughter, Laurie Cowan. She is survived by her two children Paul (Yirmi ) Cowan (Chaya) and Judy Kogutt (Jeff), Son-in Law Mark Lewittes, grandchildren: Dorit (Dovid) Badiel, Becky Lewittes (Brian Thompson), Yosef (Hannah) Cowan, Benjamin (Merissa) Kogutt, Dena

Lewittes (Nico Bittner), Ezra (Sarah) Cowan, Asher Kogutt, Elan Kogutt, Dov (Shaina) Cowan, and Elisheva Cowan and 21 Jewish great grandchildren!

Donations can be made to Planned Parenthood, Center for Biological Diversity, or Mazon.