Ruth Sharp Altshuler

Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler (1924 – December 8, 2017) was an American philanthropist living in Dallas, Texas. The Dallas Morning News wrote that she helped raise tens of millions of dollars for charity. Altshuler was the first woman to serve or chair several boards, including the Salvation Army Dallas Advisory Board, the board of Goodwill Industries, and the chair of the Board of Trustees of Southern Methodist University. She was also inducted into the Texas Woman's Hall of Fame.

Early life Altshuler grew up in a mansion with her two brothers and parents in Dallas. Her father, Carr Collins Sr., had founded the Fidelity Union Life Insurance Company in the 1920s. Altshuler graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, and spent her summers at an exclusive girls' camp in Texas Hill Country. She attended Southern Methodist University where she met her husband, a naval aviator, when she was a junior. She started working in the Junior League the next year.

In 1960, she was appointed to head the woman's division of the 1960 Dallas County Community Chest Campaign. In 1974, she was the first woman to lead the Millionaires Chorus for the Salvation Army Christmas show.

When her brother, Jim Collins, ran for a Senate seat in 1982, she helped him with his campaign. She traveled across Texas to promote her brother's candidacy. She didn't like to talk about politics, and instead focused on the kind of person her brother was. She and her friends raised $1 million and then formed the Tocqueville Society.

In 1992, she personally donated $1 million to the United Way of Dallas. Also in 1992, she was a co-chair on the committee to recruit advisors to Ross Perot's presidential campaign. Altshuler was friends with Perot's wife.

In 2008, the Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars gave Altshuler their Award for Public Service. In 2013, she was in charge of planning the event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Death Altshuler died on December 8, 2017, at age 93. Her memorial service was held on December 14 at the Highland Park Methodist Church.