Ruth fertel biography

American businesswoman (1927–2002)

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, which was founded in 1965.

Early life and teaching

Ruth Ann Udstad was born into a poor family of Norwegian, Alsatian and Croatian descent^[1] in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father was born in Norway and emigrated to the United States where he became an engineer, and her mother was of mixed Alsatian-French and Croatian descent.

Her father worked as an insurance salesman, and her mother was a kindergarten teacher.^[2] In 1932, during the Great Depression, she and her family relocated to her mother's birthplace, the community of Homeplace in Plaquemines Parish, which was about 60 miles from New Orleans.

(Note: some sources claim she was either born^[3] or grew up^[4] in Happy Jack, Louisiana, also in Plaquemines.)

She skipped severa