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Claire Mae Merritt
Female
1897–1976
• KLVD-RHG
Claire Merritt Hodgson Ruth, born Clara Mae Merritt (September 11, 1897 – October 25, 1976), was a native of Athens, Georgia, United States, who is most famous for having been the second wife of Babe Ruth.
Biography
Claire's first husband, Frank Hodgson, died February 16, 1921, leaving her with a daughter, Julia. She met Ruth in 1923. Ruth was still married to Helen Woodford, his first wife, at this time. Woodford died in a house fire in January 1929, and Ruth and Hodgson married that April 17, staying together until Ruth's death in 1948.
In later years, she indicated her responsibility, in part, for the poor relationship between her husband and teammate Lou Gehrig. According to Claire, Gehrig's mother indicated that the Ruths' adopted daughter, Dorothy, was not as well dressed as Claire's biological daughter, Julia; when Ruth was informed of this, he angrily demanded that Gehrig never speak to him off the ballfield again. Ruth and Gehrig did not make up until the day of Gehrig's famous "I'm the luckiest man on the face of this earth" speech in 1939. Later, Claire admitted that she had overreacted, apologetically accepting full responsibility for the rift between the two players—which, however, had numerous other causes besides the one indicated by Claire.
Claire lived to see two of Ruth's most famous records broken: his single season record of 60 home runs, superseded by Roger Maris in 1961; and his career record of 714 home runs, which was broken by Hank Aaron in 1974. In her twilight years, she sometimes attended games that Aaron was playing, and was supportive of Aaron's effort. Ruth was quoted as saying: "The Babe loved baseball so very much; I know he was pulling for Hank Aaron to break his record."
Mrs. Ruth was portrayed by Claire Trevor in the 1948 film The Babe Ruth Story, by Lisa Zane in the 1991 TV-movie Babe Ruth, by Kelly McGillis in the 1992 film The Babe, and by Renee Taylor in 61*.
Claire Ruth is buried next to her husband at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. The inscription on the headstone lists her birth year as 1900, instead of 1897.
November 8, 2020
C
Christopher Camalick
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Julia Ruth Stevens
1916 – 2019 • Saint Margaret of Scotland Memorial Garden
Photos 11
Flowers 91
Julia Ruth Stevens
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Birth 7 Jul 1916
Athens, Clarke County, Georgia, USA
Death 9 Mar 2019 (aged 102)
Henderson, Clark County, Nevada, USA
Burial Saint Margaret of Scotland Memorial Garden
Conway, Carroll County, New Hampshire, USA
GPS- Latitude: 44.0014428, Longitude: -71.1127366
Memorial ID 197437710
· Daughter of Babe and Claire Ruth (nee Merritt). Her biological father, Frank Bishop Hodgson, abandoned her and her mother shortly after her birth.
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Julia Ruth Stevens, the last surviving child of baseball icon Babe Ruth, has died at the age of 102, her family said Saturday evening.
Stevens died in her sleep overnight at a nursing home in Henderson, Nev., her only child, Tom Stevens, told the Globe.
"She was the last authority on Babe the man," Stevens said in a phone interview Saturday night from his home in Nevada.
Stevens was the elder of Ruth's two adopted daughters. She born on July 17, 1916 while her father was in the middle of his career with the Red Sox.
Babe Ruth played the first six seasons of his storied career in Boston. In 1919, Sox owner Harry Frazee famously sold his contract to the New York Yankees. The move set in motion one of the most famous rivalries in sports history.
Ruth was a championship pitcher for the Red Sox. But after joining the Yankees, the Sox suffered an 86-year championship drought that spawned a superstition known as "The Curse of the Bambino."
His mother did not like the infamous phrase, Tom Stevens said.
"There was no such thing as 'The Curse,'" he said. "It was just clever construct."
Her friend, Joe Brill of Quincy, said she had a ready answer whenever asked about 'The Curse.'
"'Daddy loved baseball. He'd never put a curse on a baseball team,'" Brill recalled her saying.
Stevens loved the Red Sox and "was thrilled when they won the World Series," Brill said.
The Stevens family announced Julia Ruth Stevens' death in a Facebook post on Saturday night.
"Julia was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother who lived a wonderful, full life during the 102 years that she was with us. As the daughter of Babe Ruth, she had many amazing experiences, which she was pleased to share with eager reporters and fans alike.
"Until the very end, she was very proud to call him "Daddy" and she particularly loved recalling events from 1934 when she went on a "round the world" tour with her parents. The tour began with a series of 15 exhibition baseball games played in Japan," the family said.
Brill said he first met Stevens when she visited Quincy in 2003 for the Babe Ruth World Series. She was offered a ride to the field in a limousine, but turned it down, saying she preferred to ride with someone who could "talk baseball," Brill said.
He picked her up her hotel and the pair hit it off, he said.
"We became real good friends," Brill said.
He traveled with Stevens to many baseball appearances, including Fenway Park. Her last appearance there was on July 9, 2016, when she threw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game to celebrate her 100th birthday.
Stevens would have been 103 years old in July, Brill said.
Mark Matanes, the state commissioner of Babe Ruth Baseball in Massachusetts, said Stevens was supportive of the league.
"She was always stopping by and telling stories," Matanes said, noting Stevens only slowed down about a year ago. "Her mind was sharp as a tack."
Stevens was always friendly and warm, especially around children, Matanes said.
"The children loved her," he said.
"It was all about the kids for Julia and continuing her father's name," Brill added.
Julia Ruth Stevens had a true love of baseball. And she rooted for the home team, wherever she was, her son said.
She was threw out the first pitch of the last game played at Yankee Stadium in 2008, Tom Stevens said.
"I know she liked the attention," Tom Stevens said.
Stevens's final resting spot will be in New England.
She lived for many years in Conway, N.H., where she and her first husband ran Cranmore Mountain Lodge in the 1940s. After his premature death, she became the "post mistress" of a general store in Eaton Center, N.H., her family wrote on Facebook.
She later married Brent Stevens, a local poultry farmer. "For many years, she was known throughout the Mount Washington Valley as "the egg lady," according to the Facebook post.
Julia will be laid to rest in Conway, alongside her late husband, Brent.
The burial will take place once the ground thaws, Tom Stevens said, around the start of the baseball season.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/03/09/julia-ruth-stevens-babe-ruth-last-surviving-child-dies/6xkrTF96hvUqLSY5FR0mDK/story.html
Family Members
Parents
Babe Ruth
1895–1948
Claire Merritt Ruth
1900–1976
Spouses
Richard Wells Flanders
1908–1949 (m. 1940)
Brenton Maurice Stevens
1920–2004 (m. 1956)
Half Siblings
Dorothy Helen Ruth Pirone
1921–1989
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1883 - 1921 (37 years)
