TRUCKEE, Calif. – As Truckee continues to grapple with housing challenges, one name remains synonymous with advocacy and progress: Ruth Frishman. Two decades after her passing on June 7, 2005, her impact on the town’s workforce housing landscape endures, both in policy and in name—most notably with Frishman Hollow, an affordable housing development she helped make possible. 

“She was ahead of her time,” said friend and former Truckee Mayor and Nevada County Supervisor Ted Owens. “Housing has always been an issue up here, and she recognized that need decades ago.”

Despite their differing political affiliations, Owens trusted Frishman to serve as his campaign treasurer for three elections.

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“She challenged me in ways that were invaluable,” Owens said. “I didn’t want to sit in a room with people who thought exactly like me. She made me see things differently.”

Long before affordable housing became a widely acknowledged crisis in Truckee, Frishman was fighting for solutions. In the 1980s and ’90s, rental options were scarce—no large-scale apartment complexes, no dedicated workforce housing developments. Finding a place to live often meant scrambling to grab a copy of the Sierra Sun on Thursday mornings and calling landlords as fast as possible.

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Frishman was instrumental in changing that. She co-founded and served as the first president of the Workforce Housing Association of Truckee-Tahoe (WHATT), an organization dedicated to creating affordable housing opportunities. 

“If you lose your workforce, you don’t have a community,” Owens said. “She saw that long before most people did.”

Even with progress, Owens believes Frishman would be both proud and critical of the current state of workforce housing in Truckee. “She never held back her point of view,” he said. “She would say a lot has been done, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Tony Lashbrook, former Truckee Town Manager and Planning Director, echoed that sentiment. “She was not to be ignored,” he said. “She commanded attention.”

At a time when no substantial efforts were being made to address affordable housing, Frishman was a driving force in pushing the town toward solutions. “There wasn’t an antagonism toward affordable housing, but there wasn’t really anyone besides Ruth promoting it,” Lashbrook said.

“She was that conscience for the community,” he said. “She made sure people understood that workforce housing serves critical members of our town.”

Frishman’s contributions to Truckee extended well beyond housing. A dedicated animal lover, she left a nearly $700,000 gift to the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe, providing critical funding as the organization worked to establish a regional no-kill shelter.

Stephanie Nistler, Chief Executive Officer of the Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe, credits Frishman’s bequest as the driving force behind the shelter’s creation. At the time, the organization was a small operation with just Nistler working out of a 400-square-foot office in Tahoe Donner.

When Frishman passed away in 2005, her unexpected donation stunned the fledgling nonprofit. “She changed everything for us and she never even let anybody know it was coming. It was a complete surprise,” Nistler said. “She didn’t want any praise. She just wanted to make a difference. And she did.” 

Since Frishman’s bequest, the Humane Society has expanded dramatically, saving thousands of animals. “Her gift was an absolute game changer for us,” Nistler said.

Frishman also broke barriers for women in Truckee. She was among the first women admitted into the Rotary Club of Truckee and was set to serve as its president again when she passed away in June 2005. 

“She was a force—and she was a force for women,” Owens said.

Frishman even challenged the Tahoe City Rotary Club—an organization resistant to female members—by showing up and asserting her presence. 

“She just dove right into it,” Breeze Cross, former Truckee mayor and co-founder of WHATT, said. “Bringing the whole concept of women’s rights and equality into that arena. She had that spine, that fortitude.” 

Former Mayor and close friend Maia Schneider recalled her fearless approach to advocating for equality.

“She really was an agent of change for the positive in Truckee,” Schneider said. 

Frishman’s legal mind made her a formidable advocate. “She was an exceptionally smart woman. She was an attorney by trade–if you were the opposing counsel, she was rapier wit,” Schneider said. “She suffered no fools.”

Yet, she balanced her sharp intellect with humor and warmth. “Her outbound message on her answering machine—this is back in the days before cell phones—was, ‘Brevity is an art,'” Schneider said. 

Schneider was with Frishman in her final moments. “I was actually holding her hand, sitting on her sofa with her,” she said. “When her spirit left her body… I looked at her, and she was just the tiniest little creature. You never would have described Ruth as tiny if you knew her, because of her force.”

Cross remembers Frishman as a relentless advocate during Truckee’s first general plan process. “She was the lone voice for affordable housing,” he said. “She was a very, very fair and adamant advocate. Frivolity wasn’t in her wheelhouse. Brevity was an art she held to.”

Frishman also helped establish the North Tahoe Hebrew Congregation, ensuring a space for Jewish community members to gather. “She and I attended the first Shabbat service in Truckee at the community rec center before the congregation had a home,” Schneider said.

Frishman rarely dominated discussions but had a knack for delivering crisp remarks that commanded attention.

“She had a clear wit and a very biting wit,” Kathleen Eagan, former Truckee mayor, said. “She was quite, quite a character and quite an individual.”

Her nickname, “Rue Ivy,” was a nod to a trip she took to France in her youth—and to her tenacious nature. “If you engaged with her, you were going to get a rash,” laughed longtime friend and insurance broker Kevin Murphy. “She was an absolute bird dog when it came to any kind of injustice. If you were evicted and a landlord wasn’t treating you well, she was the one who would rise up and show her presence in court to defend the meek and the mild,” Murphy said. 

Jim Porter, a retired attorney and close friend, remembered her sharp sense of humor, which she often displayed during their many lunches. One particular lunch stands out in his memory. After finishing their meal, Porter instinctively reached for the check. “I’ll pay, it’s probably my turn to buy,” he said. But Frishman quickly set him straight. “Actually, you have bought every time we’ve had lunch (for years) so I will get this one.” When Porter protested, she didn’t hesitate to fire back. “Well, if you are dumb enough to not remember, it’s not my fault.”

“I miss our lunches,” Porter said. 

Despite her passing, Frishman’s influence lingers. Owens recalled moments as a county supervisor when he would be wrestling with an issue and feel as though she was looking over his shoulder.

“I’d sometimes verbally say, ‘I know. I appreciate the help,’ because I could just feel her there,” he said.

Her closest friends continue to mark her passing each year, a testament to the deep relationships she fostered.

“You have to understand,” Owens said, “some of the modern issues we think of today—housing, workforce retention—these were things she was fighting for long ago. She was a pioneer.”

Her nickname now graces a road leading into Frishman Hollow, an enduring reminder of the woman who helped shape Truckee’s future.

As Truckee prepares to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her passing—coinciding with Truckee Day and the summer solstice—her impact as a fierce advocate for housing and justice remains as relevant as ever.

“She may have already known she was ill,” Cross said, reflecting on her final efforts to bolster housing initiatives. “But she really saw this as a way of providing a legacy.”

It is a legacy that continues to shape Truckee’s housing landscape—and the community she fought so hard to preserve.