Ruth grew up in Hurleyville, New York, and worked at Sonny's boys home there. When Sam and Dean Winchester came to help Sonny with a supernatural problem at the home, Ruth answered the door for them. After she asked if they were prison buddies of Sonny's, she let them in, and made sure they took their shoes off as she had just cleaned the floor. Sam later walked in on her in her bedroom as she was praying with her rosary beads, which she always kept with her, and apologized as he thought he had seen something. She then told Sam that she was praying for the ghost that was haunting the farm to leave, and that the farm had previously belonged to Howard and Doreen Wasserlauf. Jack, Sonny's farmhand who had died, worked for the Wasserlaufs when they lived there, but Howard got it into his head that Jack and his wife were having an affair, and he killed his wife but Howard escaped. She said Howard had died in prison a year before, and that he had always sworn he would get revenge on Jack, before giving Sam the location of Howard's grave.
She was later taking a bath, when the lights started flickering, the mirror froze over, and her breath condensed in front of her. The shower curtain then detached from its rod and suffocated her, and the volume on the radio was raised, blocking out her screams. Sonny still heard the commotion however, and tried to get in to save her. He tried to open the door and even though there were no locks on the farm, he could not open it before she died.