Ruth Paine
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Ruth Hyde Paine (born September 3, 1932) was a friend of Marina Oswald who was living with her at the time of the JFK assassination. Unbeknownst to her, Lee Harvey Oswald stored his Mannlicher-Carcano rifle in her garage.
Paine was born Ruth Avery Hyde, daughter of William Avery Hyde of Nationwide Insurance, a leading figure in the field. She went to Antioch College and became a Quaker. Through her interest in folk dancing and music she met her future husband Michael Paine, a member of the Forbes family. Though strictly speaking not a Quaker, Michael attended meetings with Ruth. They married on December 28, 1957.
In 1959 Michael Paine got a job with Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas and the Paines moved into a house in the suburb of Irving. As liberals in Dallas the Paines were isolated and Ruth Paine was quite lonely.
Ruth Paine had been studying Russian since 1957. In the late 50s she participated in Quaker pen pal programs and the East-West Contact Committee, which sponsored visits by three Soviets to the US. In 1963 she signed up to teach a summer class in Russian at St. Mark's School in Dallas but only one student signed up (William Hootkins, who became an actor and had a minor role in the movie Star Wars as X-Wing pilot Jek Porkins).
She met the Oswalds through her interest in Russian. A friend from a singing group, Everett Glover, invited her to a party on February 22, 1963 because he thought she would be interested in meeting people who spoke Russian. The Paines and Oswalds spent much time together after the party. Ruth befriended Marina though Lee was more distant, despite Ruth and Michael's efforts (and the Paines did not care for him much).
Ruth Paine drove Marina Oswald to New Orleans when the Oswalds moved there and back to Dallas when they moved again (Lee Oswald took the bus). When the Oswalds settled in Dallas again Marina and the Oswald children moved in with Ruth Paine while Lee stayed in a boarding house under the name O.H. Lee. Marina helped with the housework and Ruth’s Russian studies while Lee visited on weekends. By this time Michael and Ruth had separated, though their divorce was amicable and Michael was a frequent visitor. At the suggestion of a neighbor, Ruth Paine told Lee Oswald about a job opportunity at the Texas School Book Depository.
After the assassination Marina and Lee Oswald's mother Marguerite briefly stayed with Ruth Paine until Marina was taken into custody by the Secret Service. Marguerite and Lee's brother Robert did not like Ruth Paine, which may have influenced Marina Oswald. They thought Paine sought attention for herself, an opinion Marina would later express before the Warren Commission. Ruth wrote to Marina incessantly, with letters that took an almost desperate tone, but received no response except for a Christmas card. They met briefly in 1964 but afterwards they would never see each other again. Paine heard news about Marina through author Priscilla Johnson McMillan until McMillan’s relationship with Marina broke off in the early 1980s.
Paine was indirectly responsible for the discovery that Lee Oswald had attempted to assassinate General Edwin Walker in early 1963. Along with letters, Paine repeatedly sent Marina pictures and other items, one of which was a thick book of household advice in Russian, in which Marina had earlier concealed the note left by Lee for Marina the day he attempted to kill Walker. Previously, no one knew who Walker’s would-be assassin was and Marina had not volunteered the information.
Ruth Paine testified before the Warren Commission and has been interviewed by a number of authors, including Johnson, William Manchester and Gerald Posner. She has appeared in numerous documentaries and even a mock trial of Lee Harvey Oswald. She also testified in Jim Garrison's trial of Clay Shaw. Paine was not called to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, although the HSCA tracked down a number of less significant witnesses like the Umbrella Man.
While discussions of her in mainstream press and publications have generally been kind, conspiracy theorists often depict the Paines in a negative light, attempting to connect them to various conspiracies going back generations since Michael Paine’s relatives and ancestors held important government and business positions. In Oliver Stone's JFK the Paines are depicted as Bill and Janet Williams, played by Gary Carter and Gail Cronauer. While most names in the movie have not been changed it has been suggested the Paines were renamed to avoid potential legal action. (The name Janet Williams was used again in the 1993 TV movie Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald, in which the role was played by Quenby Bakke.)
Ruth Paine returned to Pennsylvania and became principal of a Quaker school. She soon moved to St. Petersburg, Florida and got a master’s degree in psychology at the University of South Florida. After working for the school system in Franklin County in the Florida Panhandle she returned to St. Petersburg and worked for the Hillsborough County, Florida school system until her retirement. She is active in Quaker and liberal charities and organizations and lives in St. Petersburg.
[edit] Further reading
- Thomas Mallon, Mrs. Paine's Garage and the Murder of John F. Kennedy. ISBN 0-375-42117-3.
- Priscilla Johnson McMillan, Marina and Lee. ISBN 0-06-012953-0.
