Helen Woodford Ruth was born on October 20, 1897 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She was married to Babe Ruth. She died on January 11, 1929 in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA.
Married Babe Ruth at St. Paul's Church in Ellicott City, MD. Despite Babe's rampant womanizing and neglect of his family, divorce was not an option as he and Helen were Catholic. However, they separated legally in 1925.
Died in a fire in a house owned by Edward Kinder, a dentist whom she had been living with as "Mrs. Kinder". Kinder identified her body as being that of his wife, but went into hiding after Helen's true identity was revealed. Ruth himself had to get authorities to issue a new death certificate in her legal name, Margaret Helen Woodford Ruth.
Adopted Dorothy Ruth Pirone with Babe Ruth in 1921. Decades later, Dorothy wrote a book, My Dad, The Babe, claiming that she was Ruth's biological child by a woman named Juanita Jennings.