If she had her way, Ruthie McDowell would still be working today.

“I loved my job, and I loved the people I worked with,” says the former Personal Banker at our Milwaukee Capitol branch, who retired a few weeks ago due to health issues. “My branch is awesome.”

Ruthie, 62, was diagnosed last fall with ANCA vasculitis, an autoimmune disorder that causes tingling and painful swelling in the nerves. “Mine is a little rare because it’s mostly only from my knees down,” she says. “Normally, it affects the whole body.” It impacted Ruthie’s ability to stand and walk. She also suffered a mild stroke this May.

Though she’s as mentally fit as ever, the vasculitis made it impossible to continue working. She has undergone chemotherapy, which has improved her symptoms tremendously. “What little walking I did do, I only walked on my heels because it hurt too much on the balls of my feet. Now I can walk on my whole foot on my right side, and I’m getting a little better on my left side,” she says. “But I’ll never be able to walk as good as I used to. Maybe 10 minutes I can stand, and then I’m in a lot of pain.”

Ruthie also hasn’t been able to drive since around Thanksgiving — which is a real shame, she notes with a rueful laugh, because she got a new car shortly before that.

“I was on my way to church, and on 51st and Hampton, a lady ran a light. I hit her and totaled out my car,” she says. A couple weeks later, she bought a new vehicle with the insurance payout. Three days later, her doctors explained that her vasculitis made her a driving risk. “So I have a brand-new car and I can’t drive it!” She chuckles. “When it rains, it pours.”

Were it not for her condition, Ruthie planned to stick around. She considered retiring when her old boss, former AVP and Milwaukee Capitol Branch Manager Carol Herrmann, retired at the end of last year. “I wasn’t quite ready,” Ruthie says. “But maybe God thought it best that I just sit things out.”

People are what matter
More than anything else, she’ll miss her customers. “I’ve been there 22 years, and some of my customers I have known from birth. I’ve gone to their weddings. I’ve gone to their parents’ funerals.”

She’s received cards from clients and often been a confidante. “They come in and they just want to vent,” Ruthie says. “They want therapy and some banking. I’ll miss my coworkers, but I’ll miss the customers even more.”

She’d love to have former clients and coworkers come visit, she says. Much of her family lives with her and is caring for her. Her daughter Anita lives with her and has a 25-year-old daughter, a 24-year-old son, and an 11-year-old son. Her daughter Ka-Ron also has two daughters of her own.

“My girls take really good care of me,” Ruthie says. “I don’t have to worry about going anywhere or wanting anything. If I look like I’m bored, they put me in the car and take me out.” They do bring her by the bank sometimes — but, she notes, like a lot of younger people, they often prefer to use the ATM or drive-up window, rather than going inside. “They say, ‘You’ve got to stand around and talk to everybody!'” Ruthie laughs. “But I like going in and seeing everybody.”

Her mother, who turns 80 and the end of this month, is also around. “My mom hovers over me worse than my kids,” she says.

Staying strong and positive
Though she hopes to be done with chemo, Ruthie will continue with other treatments to improve her quality of life. “I’d like to get my body together so I can work in my yard a little more,” she says. She has a cane, but she’s still getting used to it. “I walk off and forget it! That’s when you get a pain and go, ‘Oh, where did I leave that?'”

A bit of vasculitis in her right hand has made it difficult to keep up with her other hobby, sewing. “I used to make clothes from beginning to end,” she says. “But right now, only my little finger works pretty well. It’s kinda hard to put pins in. So that’s my other dream — if I can get my hand together, I can sit and sew.”

Ruthie maintains a pretty positive attitude. “Some days I feel 80, and other days I feel 22,” she says. “Depends on what time of day you catch me.”

But she makes no secret of missing North Shore Bank.

“For a small bank, we hang right along with all the big banks,” she says. “You couldn’t ask for anything better or a better place to work.”

If you’d like to say hi to Ruthie, she’d welcome your messages at rmcdowell012005@gmail.com.