Obituary: Ruth Reister, trailblazer, business exec, researcher

Armed with an education in law and business, Ruth Reister joined the corporate world at a time when women and high commerce didn't often mix.

She would become a seasoned financial executive and sit for many years on the board of a major U.S. office furniture maker.

"She was a remarkable woman," said Dr. Nadine Ide, a longtime friend. "A lot of the things she accomplished were way ahead of her time."

Reister, of Minneapolis, died of natural causes on May 18, two weeks short of her 79th birthday.

She was born Ruth Alkema in 1936 in Grandville, Mich., and got much of her higher education in her home state.

Reister graduated in 1958 from the University of Michigan School of Education, and in 1964 she earned a law degree from the University of Michigan, the only woman in her graduating class. In between those two degrees, Reister completed the Harvard-Radcliffe Program in Business Administration in 1959.

She came to Minneapolis in 1964, landing a job in the trust department at Northwestern National Bank, where she was employed until 1970. She worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis throughout the 1970s. In the early 1980s, she served for two years as a deputy undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"I do think she felt like a [business] pioneer," said Lorri Rice, a friend and Reister's personal assistant. "She told me she had to fight to get the same salary as her male colleagues early in her career. Her employer said, 'Well, they have families to support.' "

She married Raymond Reister, a Dorsey & Whitney attorney, in 1967.

She was involved in education and civic pursuits, too. She was a member of Gustavus Adolphus College's board of trustees from 1994 through 2003, serving as its chairwoman from 2001. And from 2007 until earlier this year, she was a member of the Minnesota Historical Society's honorary council.

Friends remember her as a lifelong student who attended continuing education classes and was a member of the Peripatetics of Minneapolis, a study group composed of women. "It was definitely not a book club," said Ide, who was a member along with Reister. The Peripatetics, historically known as followers of Aristotle's teachings, did research papers, presenting them to the group.

"She worked very hard at that," said Bob Struyk, a friend of Reister and a retired Dorsey attorney. He recalled Reister working on a paper about the demise of the divine right of kings, an effort that included a trip to London to ferret out old books in the city's bookshops.

She was preceded in death in 2005 by her husband, Ray, and a sister, Delores Bosker. Reister is survived by brothers Dale Alkema and Eugene Alkema, and many nieces, nephews and friends. There will be a memorial service for her at Lakewood Chapel in Minneapolis at 11:15 a.m. on Saturday.

Mike Hughlett • 612-673-7003