Ruth P.L Lind

Bath – Ruth P.L Lind, 69, passed away on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.

     Ruth was born in Bangor, Maine on June 4, 1956 to John and Norma (Bradbury) Ludwig.

      She graduated from Morse High School in Bath, Maine with the class of 1974 and graduated from the University of Maine, Orono in 1978 with a BA degree in Modern Languages.

      Ruth began her career as a broadcast journalist and held positions in journalism and corporate public and investor relations in New England and New York.

      In 1979, Ruth began flying balloons and has since flown hot air balloons, gas balloons, rozier balloons and hot air airships in numerous places around the world.  She served as editor of Ballooning, the Journal of the Balloon Federation of America (BFA) and Skylines, the BFAs monthly newsletter between 1988 and 2000.  In 2002, Ruth was elected to the BFA’s Board of Directors.

      High lights of her flying career include flying for the King of Jordon at King Hussein’s birthday celebration at Wadi Rum, Jordon.  She flew numerous times at the Forbes Chateau de Balleroy in Northern France in conjunction with the Forbes Magazine’s Balloon Ascension Division, their ‘special shapes’ balloons and Malcolm and Steve Forbes.

      Ruth and her flying partner, Marsha Lambertson, competed as the first all-female team in the eighth World Gas Balloon Championships in 1994.  Ruth flew in the first World Rozier Championship in 1990 and the first World Hot Air Airship Championship in 1988.  She competed in eight America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Races, finishing as high as fourth.

      Ruth married her husband David on April 25, 1997 in Hawaii. 

      Ruth was assistant to Lou Billones, world-renown meteorologist, on several around the world balloon circumnavigation attempts by both Steve Fossett and Kevin Uliassi.

      After retiring from gas ballooning in 2006, Ruth was named to the America’s Challenge Gas Balloon Command Center, and in 2014, was appointed Director of that Center for the America’s Challenge and Gordon Bennett gas balloon races held each year at the Albuquerque, NM Balloon Fiesta.

      Ruth received the Shields Trauger Award for service to ballooning, the highest special award given by the BFA, in 2000.  She also received the 1991 BFA Presidents Award and the BFA Director’s Award.

      Ruth was named to the BFA U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame in 2025.

      Ruth was a highly regarded quilter in the Maine quilting community.

      In 2000 she returned to Maine and started a career building new houses and renovating ocean front properties. 

      In 2013 she shifted her focus to auctioneering after being talked into auctioneering at a Maine quilting event.  She focused, in particular, on arranging and running gala benefit auctions to raise money for charity organizations.  She subsequently expanded her auctioneering business to include real estate auctioneering.  She was elected as the incoming President of the National Auction Foundation and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Auction Association.

      Ruth has motorcycled across the U.S. including Alaska, Argentina in South America, Southern Africa and north to south across New Zealand. 

      She also bred and raised Maine Coon cats and Chinook dogs.  Her love of Chinook dogs took her to the Ross Sea in Antarctica on a 42-day voyage to celebrate the first Chinook, named Chinook, who disappeared at the location of Byrd’s Little America camp in Antarctic at age 12 while hauling cargo on Admiral Byrd’s 1929 South Pole Expedition.

     Ruth was predeceased by her grandparents Ruth and Harrington Bradbury and Hans and Erna Ludwig, by her brother Eric Ludwig and by her father John Ludwig.

      She is survived by her family including her mother Norma Ludwig, her sisters Karen Ludwig (Catherine), Gail Reynolds (Steve), her uncles David Bradbury and John Bradbury, her aunt Georgia Bradbury and her cousins Debra Virtue, Douglas Wight, Steven Bradbury, Paul Bradbury, Maureen Bradbury and Corey Bradbury. Ruth has always been Grammie Ruth to David’s children, sons David K. (Zeny), Michael (Jennifer), Bradley (Amanda) and daughter Miranda, to the 13 grandchildren and to the 6 great grandchildren.

     A celebration of life will be held at 2 PM, Sunday, September 21, 2025 at the Maine Maritime Museum, 243 Washington Street, Bath.

     If you would want to remember Ruth, she would have suggested a donation to the Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, P.O. Box 1807, Auburn, ME  04211.  Attn: Ethan Minton, Philanthropy Advisor. 

Arrangements are by Daigle Funeral Home, 819 High Street, Bath. Condolences may be made online at www.DaigleFuneralHome.com.