Following King's assassination, former Mayor Frank H. Freedman, who later became the first federal judge in Springfield, appointed loving as chairwoman for the first citywide King memorial observance.
SPRINGFIELD — Ruth Stewart Loving, known as the "mother of civil rights in Springfield" – a college graduate at the age of 73, library champion, radio show host, singer, piano player, performer and NAACP leader – died Tuesday at the age of 100, Henderson Funeral Home confirmed on Wednesday.
Funeral arrangements have not been finalized, according to Henderson.
Loving, who had been undergoing rehabilitation for about a month at Wingate Nursing Home following surgery after she fell and broke her hip, died of a heart attack on Tuesday evening, according to her neice Diane Petaway, of New Haven.
Up until she fell, Loving had been living independently and was active, engaged and interested in community and national affairs, Petaway said. "She has a fantastic legacy," she said
Petaway, who had visited her aunt earlier in the day on Tuesday, said she was resting peacefully when she last saw her.
Loving, who was featured in "The Struggle for Freedom: The History of African Americans in Western Massachusetts," "never wavered from the cause," said Republican Executive Editor Wayne Phaneuf, who authored the book.
"Ruth Loving was one of a kind," Phaneuf said. "She can't be replaced."
Vera O'Connor, who served with Loving on the city's library commission, recalled Loving's fight to reopen the Mason Square Library after it had been sold to the Urban League. Loving celebrated her 100th birthday on May 27 during a party held at the library branch.
Loving was civil rights icon, who brushed shoulders with Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Congressman John Lewis when she was a leader of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP. She also and hosted a radio show on WMAS-AM and FM from 1969 to 2011.
Following King's assassination, former Mayor Frank H. Freedman, who later became the first federal judge in Springfield, appointed loving as chairwoman for the first citywide King memorial observance.
She was a wife, mother, PTO leader, USO worker and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, receiving her degree through the University Without Walls program.
Loving was born on May 27, 1914, in Pennsylvania - the youngest of seven children born to Alexander and Emma Stewart.
The family later moved to a diverse neighborhood in New Haven, Conn. Later, Loving, her husband and three children moved to Springfield in the 1940s where she became active in community affairs.
Loving, who sang at the original Cotton Club in Harlem, was active in performing and choir and church work. She founded the Freedom Choir made up of singers from nearly a dozen African-American churches in Springfield.
She was a member of "Company 3" of the Springfield National Guard and in 1945 become a member of the Women's Defense Corps and traveled throughout New England as a vocalist with the USO. She learned Morse Code for her communications work.
During an interview with the Republican in the summer, Loving said she always tried to live by the Golden Rule.
If more people treated others as they wish to be treated, and followed the words of spiritual leaders - no matter what their religion, she said a lot of the world's problems could be solved.
"We're all the same," Loving said. "We all breathe, we all eat; we all sleep. There is no difference."