Grief can knock the beat right out of a heart.
For Ruthie Rose, Silver Dollar City helped regain her rhythm.
After losing her husband of 43 years, Ruthie found herself searching for purpose, reassurance and something steady to hold onto. What she didn’t expect was that the same theme park that once held her happiest memories would become the place that healed her.
Ruthie has now worked six seasons at Silver Dollar City, but her story with the park began decades earlier. She and her husband both spent their careers at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City—Ruthie for 30 years, her husband for 40. They met there, fell in love quickly and were married just eight months later.
In 1973, just after their honeymoon, they visited Silver Dollar City for the first time. Ruthie still remembers riding the stagecoach through the original town square. Her husband wanted to bring her here because he had friends near Table Rock Lake and always dreamed of retiring in the Ozarks. Ruthie became a fan that very first day.
From then on, they held season passes and spent holidays wandering the park together, building traditions year after year. They promised each other that someday they would retire here and build a lake house.
Ten years ago, just as her husband was preparing to retire, Ruthie lost him to cancer. Grief changed everything but didn’t take away their shared dream. Determined to keep it alive, Ruthie built that lake house herself.
“I knew that’s what I needed to do,” she says with a pause. “I was grieving and knew I had to carry out our plans even if it meant I did it by myself. I owed that to him—to us.”
Still needing something to keep her busy and grounded, Ruthie drove past Silver Dollar City one day and noticed a job fair. She pulled in, applied and was hired on the spot. She started in Foods, making kettle chips for three years before becoming a senior lead at Fried Fancies while bringing decades of leadership experience from Hallmark with her.
Raised on a farm with five kids, Ruthie learned early the value of love, hard work and strong morals. Hallmark hired her before she even graduated high school and helped shape her into a compassionate leader—teaching her how to listen and care for people honestly. That compassion is now the heartbeat of her work.
“I love my people fiercely. I can encourage them with love and even correct them with love. I give hugs when they need it and tell them life will be okay. A lot of folks don’t realize how much hurt a hug can fix.”
Many young workers call her Mom or Grandma. She can see it in someone’s eyes when they’re having a hard day always makes time to listen.
“This park gave me what I needed when I didn’t know what came next,” she says. “The love and support here carried me through.”
Now, she sees it as her responsibility to pass that kindness on to her team and to every guest who walks through the gates.
“Here, no one is a stranger,” she smiles. “Every person is equal and every interaction is a chance for me to lead them with love. This place healed my heart, and now I make it my mission to be strong and steady for everyone around me to help them heal, too.”
Meet Brandei Clifton
As Public Relations Manager for the Silver Dollar City Company, she is eager to tap into her journalism background to hunt down “heart tugs” to write about—those stories that celebrate…