There isn’t a more deserving person in the Town of Osoyoos to receive the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal than Ruth Schiller.
From the time she first set foot in Osoyoos as a 14-year-old immigrant from Germany who couldn’t speak a word of English, Schiller has dedicated a large part of her life to making the Town of Osoyoos a wonderful place to live, work and call home.
For more than 70 years Schiller has volunteered her time and energy into so many community projects, it’s difficult to keep track of.
She was nominated for the prestigious Diamond Jubilee medal – she has already received the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and Gold Jubilee medals – by good friends Alison Smith from Toronto and Martha Collins (Mayor Stu Wells’ wife).
She most certainly deserves the recognition and medal.
Among her many accomplishments over the past seven decades, Schiller has accomplished so much, including:
- Being a founding member of the Osoyoos Arts Council. She’s also been a longtime member of the B.C. Arts Council and for six years served on the board of directors with the Canada Council on the Arts.
- Helped open and operate the first cafeteria for young children at Osoyoos Elementary School.
- Received the Order of British Columbia for her decades of volunteer work and community building.
- Being a founding member of the Osoyoos Desert Society.
Schiller insists raising her family here in Osoyoos and becoming an integral part of the community is her proudest achievement in life.
Schiller truly loves this community and has spent seven decades proving it. She remains a wonderful, warm and intelligent woman who will tell anyone who wants to listen how proud she is to call Osoyoos home and how there’s no place on Earth she would rather live.
People like Ruth Schiller are responsible for making the Town of Osoyoos a wonderful place to live and the entire community should be very proud of her and her accomplishments.
