The Fertel Foundation
| Ruth Fertel | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Ruth Ann Udstad February 5, 1927 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Died | April 16, 2002 (aged 75) New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Resting place | Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery |
| Residence | New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Louisiana State University |
| Occupation | Restaurateur: founder, Ruth's Chris Steak House |
| Years active | 1965 - 2002 |
| Spouse(s) | Rodney Fertel (m. 1948–58) |
| Children | 2 sons |
Ruth Ann Udstad Fertel (February 5, 1927 – April 16, 2002) was a Louisiana businesswoman, best known as the founder of Ruth's Chris Steak Houses.
Ruth Ann Udstad was born into a poor family of Alsatian descent in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father was an insurance salesman, and her mother was a kindergarten teacher. In 1932, during the Great Depression, she and her family moved to her mother's birthplace, the community of Homeplace in Plaquemines Parish, about 60 miles from New Orleans. (Note: some sources claim she was either born or grew up in Happy Jack, Louisiana, also in Plaquemines.)
She skipped several grades in grammar school, and graduated at age fifteen. The family used the money from her brother Sig's World War Two G.I. Bill benefits to send her to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge at fifteen, from where she graduated at age 19 with honors in chemistry and physics.
In 1946, Udstad obtained a job teaching at McNeese State University in Lake Charles. She left after two semesters.
On October 2, 1948, she married Rodney Fertel, who lived in Baton Rouge and shared her love of horses, and they had two sons, Jerry and Randy. In 1951, they opened a racing stable in Baton Rouge. Ruth earned a thoroughbred trainer’s license, making her the first female horse trainer in Louisiana. Ruth and Rodney divorced in 1958. Rodney unsuccessfully ran in the 1969 mayoral election in New Orleans as "The Gorilla Man", often wearing a gorilla suit to campaign events, championing the cause of renovating the Audubon Zoo.
Unable to support herself and her teenage sons on her alimony payments, she initially supplemented her income by making drapes out of her own home. In 1961, she took a job as a lab technician for physician-scientist George E. Burch at the Tulane University School of Medicine, earning $4,800 a year.
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