Ruth Matthews, Educator & Businesswoman, 73
Date of interview: December 22nd, 2003
Interviewed by: Eileen Beal

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Clevelander Ruth Matthews takes pride in giving back to the community that’s given her so much. That’s why, at 73, she’s still working as a tutor/mentor in the Cleveland Municipal School System and why she recently started a window replacement business aimed at helping home owners—seniors just like herself—protect their homes against fierce Cleveland winters.

When we interviewed Ruth at her cozy and charmingly-decorated-for-the-holidays eastside home, she was still dressed in the festive red suit and Christmas earrings she’d worn to school that day to celebrate the beginning of the school system’s holiday break, and wondering why she was considered a MythBuster.

Tell us about your "growing up" years—where you were born and raised?

I was born in 1930—I’m very much a Depression baby—and raised in Cincinnati, in the East End area. After I graduated from high school, I took a course in cosmetology.

I took it because my father was a barber. His plans were for him to have the barber shop and for me to have a beauty shop nearby.

But I did not like doing hair. I didn’t like the fussy, fussy women. I didn’t like the chemicals, the dyes, the hair coloring, the fuss and bother. I stayed in that for a couple of years, but I didn’t work with my father.

(Laugh) I just couldn’t. Father was … well, strict. It wasn’t that he was being critical, it was that he was being over-protective.

Yes. I was taught by my parents—they were very strong in their beliefs—to know right from wrong, and to know the truth. But I wouldn’t call the way I was raised special.

My dad did most of the dos and don’ts, and there is nothing he wouldn’t tell us at a young age. All we had to do was ask. He always said ‘If you are big enough to ask, you are big enough to know.’

He was always reading the Bible to us and Mom took us to church. Dad wouldn’t go. He said ‘Your church is in your heart. All you have to do is believe. And be obedient to God. That’s the only one you had to please. If you pleased God, everyone else would be pleased with you.’

Over the years, I’ve learned that a lot of times when you are trying to do the right thing, a lot of people don’t like it. But I’ve also found that in the end, they respect you for what you have done.

You’ve said you love to travel. Where have you traveled?

When I married Mr. Matthews, who worked for General Motors, we had a good life. He loved to travel and we would
all go with him.

We went all over, to Mexico and out west to California and Colorado up in the mountains.

That’s where I’d love to live. When we were in Boulder, I remember climbing some mountains and the scenery was wonderful. Once, when we were climbing, we went up so high that there was still snow on the mountain top and it was melting and dripping. It was all so beautiful that I started crying.

Everyone was asking, ‘What’s the matter?,’ but there was nothing the matter. That’s when I knew there was a God; you could feel the presence there.

We stayed till night and it was so beautiful. You felt like you could put up a hand and pull down the stars.

Tell me about your "day job."

I’m with the Cleveland Municipal Public Schools and I got started with the schools when I was 50, which means I’ve been with them for almost 23 years. I’m in the classroom with the teacher and I’m a paraprofessional. I work with students in every grade and subject--math, writing, reading, citizenship, science.

Last year I was at Louis Pasture and at the present time I’m at Case Elementary [at 45th and Superior]. People there have really opened up their arms to me. I feel good there and really appreciated.

You became a school paraprofessional at 50? What drew you to the job?

The needs of the children. When you walk into a classroom and there are children that can’t even tell you their name—because they have been called Tootsie all their life—or who don’t know how to tie their shoes, and you can see immediately where you can help, and teach them, that’s a powerful motivator.

But it’s not just that, I enjoy the children I’m working with, too. I like letting them know that they can do things on their own and once they find out they can do something, get out of the way. [Laughs] You can’t hold them back.

I push them, but it’s gentle pushing, so they can be the best they can be.

I used to stay after school and do some tutoring with the kids, but not now. With the window business, that was just too much.

Tell us about the window business you started, and why you started it.

It’s called Matthews Replacement Windows and I started it last February [2003]. But I got interested in windows, oh, maybe five years ago because I’d started looking at windows because of the heating bills. Every place that I called the prices were unbelievable—so high. For my 33 windows one placed wanted over $20,000; another wanted $17,000; another, it was between $18-20,000.

So I got on the computer and began searching for replacement windows—most of the window companies are on the Internet—and I could see for myself what the windows were made of, how they were installed, and what they were priced at.

And I was amazed. I couldn’t understand why window companies were charging what they were charging when I knew what the windows actually cost.

When I did finally get my windows replaced—for about $12,000 by a company that I researched and found on my own—I decided that I was going to do something that was going to help others. And I decided that I was going to work with seniors because, well, elderly people were just getting ripped-off and I got tired of that.

When I decided to do the business, it wasn’t something that I wanted to do, or something that I thought ‘Oh, I can make a lot of money at this’; it was something that needed to be done for older people.

If there is money in it, that’s good, but the sense of accomplishment—that I’ll have done something that needed to be done for people who needed help—that will be the real pay-off.

[For more information you can contact Matthews Replacement Windows at rumatt22@aol.com, telephone: 216-721-5647, fax: 216-721-0344]

How do you run the business?

I’ve got an excellent computer and do all the paperwork in my home office, which is a mess right now. And I keep in touch with the clients—it can take up to six weeks for the windows to come—and they like knowing that I am there and keeping them up-to-date on things.

I can do the measuring—I learned how and I do go out and measure for folks sometimes—but I don’t want to be climbing ladders, so I usually have someone else do that.

The installer who put in my windows is now one of the installers for my business. But I also have another person, a contractor, who does it [installs windows], too.

It’s only a part-time business during the school year, but when school is out, I do it full-time. because summer is when people want to get their windows done.

Since we started, we have done about 12 projects and I’ve estimated about 30.

How do you advertise your business?

I have put up signs around the neighborhood and at my church. My son*—he’s a graphic designer—made them up for me. That’s brought me some business. And I put an ad in the Call and Post [newspaper], and a lot of people have called from that. [*Lawrence H. Matthews]

At the supermarket, they volunteered to put out flyers for me. I’m glad they did because I didn’t know how to make that kind of a contact.

Are you satisfied with where the business is going?

Oh yes, definitely.

I like meeting people. I went on one call from the flyer, and when he saw me, he said ‘Damn, I thought you were kidding about you coming out and doing the measuring. But you really do it, don’t you?’

And I like that we are fulfilling our mission [pulls mission statement into lap and reads] "to make window buying enjoyable and affordable for senior citizens and homeowners in the urban community."

Does what you are doing in your new business relate to what you do at school?

I’d have to say yes. I’m working with people in both situations. Some are little and some are big, but they all need some help with something. And that—helping—was one of the main reasons I decided to go into the window business.

And I’m educating people and providing information in both situations. And I think I’m doing good in both, too.

What’s the most important life-lesson you have learned—so far?

That’s a hard question, and not hard, too.

I’d say … to depend on the Lord. When things get heavy—and there have been some heavy moments—I hurl them to him. And he eases the pain.

That’s what I’ve learned: to really trust in the Lord. That means that I don’t have to worry about tomorrow, but not worrying doesn’t mean that I don’t have to make plans about tomorrow and care about tomorrow.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve learned to be personally independent and spiritually dependent on the Lord. I’ve learned to prioritize and I know what’s important today.

I’m in my "golden" or "sunsetting" years, and I’m comfortable with myself and the life I lead.

What’s your recipe for successful aging?

If you are asking how I got where I am today, then I think it’s that one has to find what works for them.

I’m pretty healthy—I get colds and things like that, but that’s a hazard of working where I work. And I do have diabetes. I was diagnosed about 20 years ago and was managing it by watching my diet, but now I take a pill and I do a lot of walking—on my treadmill—and I ride the exercise bike, too. [Laugh] I like that a lot more than I like the treadmill.

For the other stuff, well, we all have crossroads. It’s what you do when you get to a crossroad that makes you who you are. Money can buy a lot of "stuff," but having it doesn’t teach you a lot about how to deal with life. Experience does that. Knowing who you are does that. Knowing what your limits are does that. When you understand all that, you are doing it [aging successfully].

At 73, are you doing what you thought you’d be doing at 63?

In a way, yes, because at 63 I know I wasn’t thinking about retiring. I was out shopping one day at Beachwood Mall, and a salesperson saw my age from my driver’s license and asked ‘Are you retired?’ and I said, ‘Retired? What do you mean?’

And she said, ‘Well, you are 63, you should be retired. My mother’s 60, and she’s retired.’

I couldn’t understand that kind of thinking—I still can’t—that just because you hit a certain number you should quit working.

I think people remind me of my age more than I do myself. They ask—all the time—‘When are you going to retire?’ or ‘How long are you going to keep working?’

I tell them ‘I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing because this is better than being retired.’

What one word would you use to describe yourself, and why that word?

Hmm, that’s a hard question. I don’t think I’ve done anything great or remarkable, so that kind of thing is hard to put
into one word.

But, I really know who Jesus is today and I can see him working in my life, so “hopeful” is the word that really describes the way I think and feel today. I have a lot of faith in people.

I work with the schools because our children are our hope, our future, and I the started the window business because I knew it needed to be done and I said to myself—after having done it and done it well for myself—‘I can do this for others.’

I am hopeful that it will succeed and, having that faith, it should succeed.