Adirondack Daily Enterprise, June 19, 1987 Born: May 29, 1900, in Omaha, Nebraska
Died: June 17, 1987
Married: Warriner Woodruff in 1933
Children: Elizabeth Woodruff Pine, Barbara Woodruff Gould, Emily Woodruff
Gertrude Stratbucker Woodruff was president of the Village Improvement Society for ten years, and worked to bring Riverside Park into existence. The Woodruffs lived at 54 Old Military Road, and Mrs. Woodruff later lived in an apartment at 8 Church Street.
She is buried in the Pine Ridge Cemetery.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, June 19, 1987
Mother of Riverside Park Gertrude Woodruff, dies
BALTIMORE, Md. — Gertrude Woodruff, 87, wife of the late Dr. Warriner Woodruff and for ten very active years president of the Village Improvement Society, died here Wednesday, June 17.
Mrs. Woodruff was the driving force behind the creation of beautiful Riverside Park on the shore of Lake Flower. She led the effort to open up the view of the lake during construction of the new highway. Appearing before local government boards and appealing to state agencies, she guided the project from a small collection of parks along River Street to what stands today as a continuous swath of village green enjoyed by thousands. In 1977, the tenth year of her leadership of the VIS, Mrs. Woodruff stood alongside Mayor Charles Keough, state Transportation Commissioner William Hennessey and other officials to dedicate the new Riverside Park.
Mrs. Woodruff lived in Saranac Lake for 52 years. In 1985 she moved to Baltimore, where one of her daughters lives, but continued to maintain an apartment in Saranac Lake at 8 Church Street.
In addition to her involvement in the VIS, she was an active member of the Voluntary Health Association, General Hospital Auxiliary and the Presbyterian Church.
She was born May 29, 1900, in Omaha, Neb., the daughter of Frank and Catherine Stratbucker. She graduated from the University of Michigan and worked for a time as a buyer for Gimbel's in Milwaukee.
She moved to Saranac Lake in 1933 after marrying Dr. Warriner Woodruff, a popular local physician. He died in Saranac Lake in 1964.
Assuming leadership of the VIS in 1969, Mrs. Woodruff directed the organization during a time of great change. Membership was opened to men, meetings were opened to the public and the group sponsored informational sessions on items like new zoning codes and sewer projects. The Adirondack Arboretum was dedicated during her tenure, as were other VIS parks including Triangle, Triangle Riverbank and Vest Pocket Park.
Local scribe Bill McLaughlin, in a column titled "Serenade to a Tireless Worker," once called Gertrude Woodruff "the glue that held the VIS together . . . (and) the last one to stand in the spotlight or even take a hasty bow."
Mrs. Woodruff is survived by three daughters, Elizabeth Pine of Rochester, Barbara Gould of Baltimore, Md., and Emily Woodruff of Arlington, Va., and six grandchildren. Also surviving is a brother, Herman Stratbucker of Omaha, Neb., and several nieces and nephews.
Cremation will take place in Baltimore.
Plans are incomplete for a memorial service in Saranac Lake in the near future.
Burial will be in Pine Ridge Cemetery in Saranac Lake.
Donations in Mrs. Woodruff's memory may be made to the General Hospital of Saranac Lake or the Village Improvement Society.
