Walk with nature – your path is peace

NPAQ gratefully received a generous bequest from Ruth Frances Crosson this month. Ruth peacefully passed away in December 2019 after losing her fight with cancer at age 82.

Ruth was always accompanied by her two Pomeranian dogs and was well know as never being afraid to be herself. She was instrumental in establishing the Tondoon Botanic Gardens in Gladstone where both she and her husband now have trees planted in their memory in the gardens.

She had a passion for native plants and in the later time of her life, she produced a brochure on the relationships between native butterflies and native plants.

The following was posted on the Gladstone Conservation Council Facebook following her passing:

As many of you will be aware, Ruth Crosson sadly passed away a week ago, and Gladstone won’t be the same without her.

I first met Ruth at my first EcoFest in June 2002 – as I recall I bought a birds nest fern and joined the local SGAP group. I grew up with the Society for Growing Australian Plants – I guess you could call me a second generation activist – so this seemed like a good way to get in contact with some like-minded people.

Ruth was a stalwart of the local SGAP group, and even when there were very few members her unfailing enthusiasm never wavered. I remember on one occasion wading over to Wild Cattle Island to look at plants (in retrospect we could have judged the tide times better!).

She and I worked on any number of projects together over the years, and just recently we were plotting how to get the money to get a guest speaker up from Brisbane.

I taught Ruth to send her first email – and they retained a unique style, occasionally difficult to interperet, but you had to give her points for having the courage to take on the new technology.

In her final years she had developed an enthusiasm for local butterflies – and the unique plants which butterflies need for their life cycle. She has produced a small brochure and posters detailing our local plants and butterflies and had grand plans for the future.

I hope we can continue her work in her memory.

You will be missed Ruth.