Title
Proclamation honoring the life and legacy of Ms. Ruth Walter Brenyo, a long-term Board Member of the City-County Task Force on Disabilities, and a lifelong pioneer and leader in the community of people with disabilities.
Body
WHEREAS, Ruth Walter Brenyo a long term Board Member of the City-County Task Force on Disabilities sadly passed away on May 30, 2006. She is predeceased by her husband, George Brenyo who was also a prominent advocate for persons with disabilities, and is survived by two brothers, a sister-in-law, and two nephews; and
WHEREAS, Ruth Walter Brenyo, attended the D.T. Watson School for Children with Disabilities. In 1946 she graduated from South Hills High School, and in 1948 graduated from Duff's Business School and went on to work in a clerical position for the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare and Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Brenyo was a lifelong pioneer and leader in the community of people with disabilities to which she was a founding member of Pittsburgh Chapter One of Open Doors for the Handicapped, an organization which has worked to remove physical barriers such as curbs, steps, and narrow doorways that prevent people with disabilities from participating in community life. Ruth Walter Brenyo and her late husband George Brenyo were also founders of the Magic Carpet Transportation Service, one of the first door-to-door wheelchair van services in the United States and the only one to be totally operated by volunteers with disabilities, funded by Allegheny County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Ruth Walter Brenyo served on the first Mayor's Task Force on Accessibility during the Caligiuri administration to assure accessibility for the city's major development for people with disabilities and served on the Board of Directors of United Cerebral Palsy of Pittsburgh, the Port Authority of Allegheny County Committee for Accessible Transportation, and was an associate member of Paralyzed Veterans of America and past recipient of the National Rehabilitation Hospital's Victory Award; Pennsylvania Handicapped Person of the Year Award and the UCP of Pittsburgh Gertrude Labowitz Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1993, the Ruth and George Brenyo Award was established on behalf of persons with disabilities by the Three Rivers Center for Independent Living;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Allegheny County Council and Chief Executive Dan Onorato posthumously recognize Ruth Walter Brenyo. She will always be remembered in the community as a prominent advocate for persons with disabilities that devoted her entire life to serving and educating others and for her outstanding contributions to improving the quality of life of our residents.