RIP Ruthie The Duck Lady (2 Viewers)

[alon504]

French Quarter institution is gone....crossed paths with this New Orleans eccentric many, many times.

Ruthie the Duck Girl dies of cancer at 74
by John Pope, The Times-Picayune Friday September 12, 2008, 10:36 PM
Ruthie the Duck Girl, a French Quarter eccentric who zoomed from bar to bar on roller skates, often wearing a ratty fur coat and long skirt and trailed by a duck or two, died Sept. 6 at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge. She was 74.

Ruthie, whose real name was Ruth Grace Moulon, had been suffering from cancer of the mouth and lungs when the residents of her Uptown New Orleans nursing home were evacuated to Baton Rouge as Hurricane Gustav approached, said Carol Cunningham, a close friend who watched over her for nearly 40 years.

"I've always looked at Ruthie like a little bird with a broken wing, " Cunningham said. "She was always so dear to me."

More: http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/ruthie_the_duck_girl_dies_of_c.html

 

[llama]

That's sad.

I miss all of the eccentrics.

 

[Furryankee]

Folks like Ruthie and the Chicken man were essential to making the character of the French Quarter.

 

[alon504]

Folks like Ruthie and the Chicken man were essential to making the character of the French Quarter.

Yep....and I bought her many beers. I remember one time I was on Decatur St. (can't remember the bar) and I sent her a beer. She had her ducks with her and they were just walking around the top of the bar where we all sat just quacking away. And few were paying that much attention to the ducks walking around our drinks. Everybody just understood that Ruthie was there--no biggie. Those days are gone. I'll never see that again in the Quarter.

 

[UptownShark]

RIP Ruthie. I never really understood what she was saying but I liked talking to her anyway.

 

[RSF]

I never really understood what she was saying

She was telling you to buy supplemental insurance.

 

[SoonerJim]

RIP. I saw her back in the day when I lived in the Quarter

 

[RiverCitySaint]

Wow.
I think I got directions from her once down in the Quarter.
Rest in peace hon.

 

[saintanism]

I use to see Ruthie all the time at Kueffer's Bar on Rue Chartres and Toulouse when I use to work in the Quarter. The last time I saw Ruthie it was at a private party at Pat O'Brien's. Ruthie wasn't on the guest list but it didn't stop her from making herself at home anyway. She just walked up to the buffet and started loading a heaping plate of boiled shrimp and Oysters Bienville. No one refused her or said anything to her about it. As she was leaving the buffet to go get a beer at the bar I said to her "Hey Ruthie. Who loves you baby?!". She just grinned and quietly walked away. She was a trip. Only in New Orleans. I'll miss seeing her around the French Quarter but I'm glad she isn't suffering any longer.

Who loves you baby?!

R.I.P. Ruthie

 

[saintanism]

What ever happened to the bead lady? Is she still around? Ruthie cracked me up but the bead lady gave me the creeps.

 

[Shockmo]

Hope she had Aflac.

 

[BigOdin504]

Yep...I remember being in Molly's numerous times and watching her screaming at traffic once on decatur.
There are still some characters in the quarter/marigny/bywater but unfortunately for every interesting person there are 10 morons who thinks they are interesting because they don't bathe, dye their hair and sculpt it so they look like they have mange.

 

[saintanism]

Yep...I remember being in Molly's numerous times and watching her screaming at traffic once on decatur.
There are still some characters in the quarter/marigny/bywater but unfortunately for every interesting person there are 10 morons who thinks they are interesting because they don't bathe, dye their hair and sculpt it so they look like they have mange.

lus-un2:...Ruthie was a true French Quarter original. Sometimes she could be a pain in the arse, but she was always interesting in a strange way and she could always cracked me up. I wish I had a nickel back for every cigarette and beer I gave her though. I'm really going miss that crazy old broad.

 

[alon504]

lus-un2:...Ruthie was a true French Quarter original. Sometimes she could be a pain in the arse, but she was always interesting in a strange way and she could always cracked me up. I wish I had a nickel back for every cigarette and beer I gave her though. I'm really going miss that crazy old broad.

She made me laugh too....many times. She was a trip. Totally. It's sad to see her go, but, her day in the Quarter is up. She'll never be replaced. But, boy, she could really smoke cigarettes and drink beer like no other!!

 

[gboudx]

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2008-09-16/news_feat2.php