MCDONALD, Ruth Ellen
Ruth Strauss Foundation - to help others effected by this terrible disease
Ruth Ellen McDonald was born in Ballarat on the 27th May 1972.
Before meeting English cricketer Andrew Strauss, Ruth was working in Sydney as a professional theatre actress. The young cricketer spent the summer of 1998 playing for Sydney University, which is when he met Ruth at the Bourbon and Beefsteak in Kings Cross, not too far from the Sydney Cricket Ground. Being an actress she had plenty of days when she wasn't doing much so they would explore Sydney together.
The pair married in 2003 and settled in England, where Ruth continued to perform on the London theatre circuit for a while under her maiden name. But as their family grew with the arrivals of Sam and Luca, and as Andrew's cricketing career began to take off, she began to play an increasingly important role in her husband's support network.
Ruth first fell ill and was diagnosed in December 2017, while Andrew - then director of England Cricket - was in Australia for the men's Ashes tour. Andrew returned home in the middle of the series, and stepped down from his position in May ahead of a new and more challenging course of treatment in the summer, giving up his career for his partner, just as Ruth had done all those years ago.
Ruth died on the 29th December 2018 in Ballarat surrounded by her loved ones, following a battle with a rare form of incurable lung cancer which affects non-smokers.
Ruth wanted desperately to help those effected by this terrible disease so a foundation has been set up in her honour.
