News

49 adjectives for Ruth Birge

RuthTribute

By Bill Moss, Published: March 11, 2015

In one-word tributes to Ruth Birge, friends and admirers wrote "dynamic," "charismatic," "caring" and "authentic" several times and many other adjectives. Birge beamed and the audience cheered and hooted at who said what.

A crowd of United Way supporters turned out to celebrate a successful 2014 fundraising campaign and to salute Birge, who retires at the end of this month after leading the umbrella community fundraising agency for five years.
Organizers who work for Birge spent the last couple of months urging her friends — there are hundreds — to describe her using one word, make a picture holding it up and sending it in. They did do, scrawling a word on a sheet of paper or printing one out in big letters.
What were words? Here are a bunch of them: Authentic. Tenacious. Dynamo. "Intoxicated (oops, we meant intoxicating)." Unforgettable. Magnanimous. Amazing. Bestie. Dynamic. Vivacious. Gregarious. Involved. Awesome. Woof (dog for kind). Ebullient, Charitable. Marvelous. Bodacious. Entertaining. Charismatic. Devoted. Illustrious. Newsworthy. Lovable. Sincere. Hoosier. Giving. Hot. Respect. Songstress. Fantastic. Family. Funny. Oscar. Queen. Laughter. Legendary. Pizazzy. Indefatigable. Mentor. Supercalifragilsitic. Irrepressible. Infectious. Faithful. Vibrant. Friend. Effervescent. Joy.
The "Steve Johnson Brothers Band," made up of two Steves, two Johnsons and two former United Way directors — Steve Johnson, Henry Johnson and Steve Kirkland — had fun with Birge's second big retirement. She took over the United Way job after retiring as publisher of the Times-News in 2009.
Wiping away a tear, Birge thanked the crowd and praised her staff, board members and United Way donors.
"The last thing I want to say," she concluded, "is fill out your pledge card!"