Stepping into Trudy Ritter's Ann Arbor home is stepping into history.
Born in 1929 in Reading, Pa., Trudy has seen the white smoke of eight newly elected popes, and lived through World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, 9/11, the first African-American president and more.
Through it all, she has remained devoted to the Catholic Church, its faith and its education.
“My parents loved the Lord and they passed that on to me and my sister. My husband, Frank, and I passed that on to our eight children and 17 grandchildren,” Trudy says.
Trudy attended Catholic grade school, high school and nursing school despite the financial strain it placed on her parents – her father lost his job as a newspaper reporter when she was in elementary school and passed suddenly, of a heart attack, when she was in ninth grade.
Trudy’s mother took on second jobs to pay for her daughter’s education, and Trudy absorbed those values of hard work at a young age.
She also absorbed her parents’ commitment to Catholic education, and sent all eight of her children through Catholic schools.
“I am so overwhelmed by the value of my Catholic education and I think it’s even more important today than when I was growing up, because there is so much hate and disrespect in our society,” she says.
“When you attend a Catholic school, you learn to respect authority, you learn morals, you learn to adore the Lord and you’re provided the tools to hear him calling for you.”
Witness the Difference a Catholic education made in Trudy's life here.