A Single Mother Inspires a Scholarship
“I did what I needed to do.”
That’s what Rhoda Rubin (1933-2004) would say when asked how she raised three children on her own, holding down two—and, at times, three—jobs. This brief answer belies the enormous energy of a dedicated nurse and inspiring mother and her impact on her children and her community of Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
 Rhoda and her brother Marvin |
 Lane, Debbie and Ron Rubin |
“I was born with the desire to be a nurse.”
Rhoda’s early life was marked by hardship and death. Her mother died when Rhoda was one; her next caretaker, her aunt, died when Rhoda was nine. Rhoda and her brother moved to their grandparents’ farm; her grandmother died a few years later. In an autobiography that Rhoda wrote when she was 16, she said that the tragedies of her youth inspired her ambition: “Ever since I can remember there have been suffering and hardships in our family … It seems that I was born with the desire to become a nurse.”
Rhoda began her career as a hospital nurse in 1953, when she moved to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Following her divorce, with three children to support, she joined the Pittsfield Health Department as a school and public health nurse – a job she held for more than 28 years while continuing to work evenings at the hospital. Rhoda received many awards and honors for her civic contributions and for the volunteer work she did before and after her retirement.
“The profound losses my mother experienced at a young age had a huge impact on her life,” said her daughter Debbie Rubin. “It made her place a high value on the ability to take care of oneself and she believed that education was the key to doing this. She also was passionate about ‘giving back’ and inspired us to do so as well.”
“Open this first.”
In her later years, Rhoda had talked with her children about the idea of a scholarship fund that would help women achieve independence through higher education. Going through her papers after she died, the siblings found an envelope that said, “Open this first.” Ron Rubin says that inside they found all the information they needed to settle her estate and a reminder that “she would like us to do something to help someone else get a degree.”
An estate attorney steered them to Berkshire Taconic, where they created the Rhoda Rubin Memorial Nursing Scholarship. The fund provides scholarships to Berkshire County residents studying nursing at Berkshire Community College, giving preference to single mothers and graduates of Pittsfield schools. Ron, Lane and Debbie established the fund which, in addition to their contributions, included donations from family and friends.
“We were very happy to be able to honor our mother in such a meaningful and immediate way,” said Lane Rubin. “This is exactly the kind of legacy Mom would want—supporting the community by helping women learn this wonderful profession.”