All of us at the Burchfield Penney Art Center send our sincere condolences to David Lampe and all of the Lampe family on the passing of Ruth. The Lampes are dear friends of The Center, always enjoying openings and events, both as a couple and with their grandchildren when they were in Buffalo visiting. Rest in Peace Ruth. xo
From The Buffalo News:
Oct. 19, 1942 – Aug. 8, 2015
Ruth E. Lampe, a neighborhood leader and English teacher in Buffalo schools, died Saturday in Hospice Buffalo, Cheektowaga. She was 72.
Born in Storm Lake, Iowa, and raised on a farm, she moved to Buffalo in 1970 when her husband, David E. Lampe, took a job as a professor at Buffalo State College. She lived in the same Victorian home in the Parkside neighborhood for the past 45 years.
A graduate of Bemidji (Minn.) State College, she earned a master’s degree in English education from Buffalo State College.
Among her passions were the Parkside Community Association, Buffalo schools, the Darwin Martin House and gardening.
In addition to working as the director and a housing specialist for Parkside Community Association, Mrs. Lampe served as president of the organization several times and was an active member at the time of her death. She also was a member of the Design Review and Long Range Planning committees for the Olmsted Parks Conservancy and co-chaired the North Buffalo Neighbors Aging in Place Transportation Committee.
In 2013, she and her husband were honored as the Erie County Legislature’s Citizens of the Month for March. They also created the David and Ruth Lampe Poetry Endowment at the Burchfield Penney Art Center.
Mrs. Lampe, who served as president of the PTA at School 54 and City Honors, taught for 18 years, including Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, Bennett High School, Emerson School of Hospitality, Seneca Vocational High School, School 81 and Hutchinson-Central Technical High School.
She also was a volunteer at the Darwin Martin House.
After retiring to spend time with her grandchildren, Mrs. Lampe kept a hand in the local political scene and at her church, St. Paul’s Lutheran of Eggertsville, where she was a past president and Sunday school teacher.
In addition to her husband, survivors include two sons, Jeffrey and Paul; a brother, Larry Eickstaedt; and seven grandchildren.
A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 4007 Main St., Eggertsville.