1. RUTH JOAN BADER WAS born on March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, N.Y. The second child of Nathan and Celia (their first daughter, Marilyn, died of meningitis when Ruth was young), the Baders lived in the Flatbush neighborhood. Her father sold furs, then later was a haberdasher. In school, Ruth was a baton twirler, cello player in the orchestra, and member of both the pep squad and the honor society.
2. Ruth's mother took her on frequent trips to the library and instilled in her a devotion to learning. Celia battled cervical cancer while Ruth was in high school, dying the day before Ruth's graduation ceremony. During her remarks upon nomination to the Supreme Court, Ruth spoke of her mother as "the bravest and strongest person I have known, who was taken from me much too soon. I pray that I may be all that she would have been had she lived in an age when women could aspire and achieve and daughters are cherished as much as sons."
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