Julia Ruth Stevens

{{short description|American writer, Babe Ruth's adopted daughter (1916–2019)}}

File:Julia_Ruth_Stevens_in_1999.jpg

Julia Ruth Stevens (born Julia Marshall Hodgson; July 7, 1916 – March 9, 2019) was the adopted daughter of American baseball player Babe Ruth and the biological daughter of his second wife Claire Merritt Ruth.{{cite news |last1=Apgar |first1=Blake |title='All because of Daddy' |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/aviatorsbaseball/babe-ruths-legacy-lives-through-his-family-in-las-vegas-valley-1600624/ |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=February 22, 2019}}

Stevens was born Julia Hodgson to Claire ({{nee|Merritt}}) and Frank Hodgson in Athens, Georgia. Her father, who died in 1921, was estranged from her mother soon after Julia was born. The mother and daughter moved to New York City where Claire worked as a model.

Her mother met Babe Ruth in 1923, and they married in 1929. Ruth subsequently adopted Julia. Through the marriage, she also gained a sister, Dorothy.{{cite news |title=Claire Ruth, Widow of Baseball Great, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/26/archives/claire-ruth-widow-of-baseball-great-she-kept-yankee-stars-memory.html |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=October 26, 1976}}

Julia was married three times. Her first husband was Richard Flanders who died in 1949. Her second marriage to Grant Meloon ended in divorce but produced a son. Her third marriage to Brent Stevens lasted 49 years. She had one son, Tom, from her second marriage who was adopted by her third husband. Through Tom, she has two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Stevens was a fan of the Boston Red Sox.{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Matt |title=Ruth Stevens, Babe's daughter, dies at 102 |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/julia-ruth-stevens-passes-away-at-102 |work=MLB.com |date=March 10, 2019}} Later in life, she spent her time upholding the legacy of her father and wrote three books on him.{{cite news |title=Babe Ruth's last surviving daughter dies in Nevada at 102 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/babe-ruth-s-last-surviving-daughter-dies-nevada-102-n981551 |work=NBC News |agency=Associated Press |date=March 11, 2019}} Along with her mother and sister, she helped save her father's birthplace in Baltimore.{{cite web |title=History of the Museum |url=https://baberuthmuseum.org/babe-ruth-birthplace-museum/ |website=Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum}} Particularly, she was deeply involved in the Babe Ruth League.{{cite web |title=Babe Ruth League Hall of Fame Welcomes Julia Ruth Stevens |url=https://baberuthleague.org/alumni-news/julia-ruth-stevens.aspx |website=Babe Ruth League |access-date=June 16, 2024}}

In 1989, she and her sister were a joint plaintiffs along with the Babe Ruth League in a trademark dispute with Macmillan Incorporated over use of their father's likeness.[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/894/579/306858/ Dorothy Ruth Pirone, Julia Ruth Stevens, Babe Ruth League,incorporated and Curtis Management Group, Incorporated, Plaintiffs-appellants, v. Macmillan, Incorporated, Defendant-appellee] 894 F.2d 579 (2d Cir. 1990)

She died in March 2019 in an assisted living facility in Henderson, Nevada, at the age of 102.{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Richard |title=Julia Ruth Stevens, Babe Ruth's Daughter, Dies at 102 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/09/obituaries/julia-ruth-stevens-dead-babe-ruth.html |work=The New York Times |date=March 9, 2019}} The cause of death was pulmonary embolism.{{cite news |last1=Schudel |first1=Matt |title=Julia Ruth Stevens, daughter of baseball great Babe Ruth, dies at 102 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/julia-ruth-stevens-daughter-of-baseball-great-babe-ruth-dies-at-102/2019/03/16/cc9020f6-4754-11e9-90f0-0ccfeec87a61_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 16, 2019}} Before moving to the facility, she was a long-time resident of Conway, New Hampshire, where she was in innkeeper.{{cite news |title=Remembering Julia Ruth Stevens |url=https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2019-03-13/remembering-julia-ruth-stevens |access-date=June 16, 2024 |work=New Hampshire Public Radio |date=March 13, 2019}}