Early Life and Teaching
She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. During the Great Depression, she and her family moved to the community of Homeplace in Plaquemines Parish. She skipped several grades in grammar school, and later entered Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge at the age of fifteen to pursue degrees in chemistry and physics.
In 1946, Udstad obtained a job teaching at McNeese State University in Lake Charles. She left after two semesters.
On October 2, 1948, she married Rodney Fertel, who lived in Baton Rouge and shared her love of horses, and they had two sons, Jerry and Randy. In 1951, they opened a racing stable in Baton Rouge. Ruth earned a thoroughbred trainer’s license, making her the first female horse trainer in Louisiana. Ruth and Rodney divorced in 1958.
Read more about this topic: Ruth Fertel
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or teaching:
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