Community held “Celebration of Life”
By Loreen Berlin
Ruth Walp, founder of the Buena Park Children’s and Youth Theatre, passed away Tuesday, May 21, in Brookfield, Conn., where she had gone to be with her son Alan Walp and wife Nili after her husband, Tom Walp, passed away a few years before her.
A graveside service for Mrs. Walp was held at the Loma Vista Cemetery, 701 E. Bastanchury Rd., in Fullerton, on Wednesday, May 29. Following the graveside service, a Celebration of Life was held at the Walter D. Ehlers Event Center, in Liberty Hall, 8150 Knott Ave., in Buena Park, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Mrs. Walp, a retired school teacher, founded the Buena Park Children’s and Youth Theatre 40 years ago because she saw a need when budget cuts threatened the Fine Arts programs in schools.
Walp saw many of the earlier students she had directed, go on to be in such TV and stage productions as Glee and Hair Spray and remarked how throughout her life, many students would come up to her and say, “Mrs. Walp, I was in one of your plays,” which she admitted, thrilled her. “It was all worth it,” she had remarked.
BPYT is a musical production platform for children 4th through 12th grades that renders two annual musicals to rival any Broadway production.
And in apprentice are the “Junior” performers who are always such a delight with their young antics.
A spin-off of the BPYT is the group, “The Spotlighters,” directed by Karen Labok, coached vocally by Kristin McGuire, who herself was a former member of the BPYT, and choreographed by Chris Barfield.
The Spotlighters perform at various times throughout the year and previously took 1st-runner-up in the “open division” of the “FAME Hollywood Show Choir Competition.”
“We started the group as a way of promoting the Buena Park Youth Theatre and to act as goodwill ambassadors for the city of Buena Park by entertaining within the community and surrounding areas with musical theatre production numbers,” said Labok.
The Spotlighters have also participated in the “Encore Musical Theatre Festival and Competition,” at the Fullerton College Campus Theatre.
As a result of Mrs. Walp’s planting the seed and giving youth the initial opportunity, past cast members still perform on Broadway in New York and many others perform professionally on stage in various states as well as other countries.
During the Celebration of Life for Mrs. Walp, past cast members from the Buena Park Children’s and Youth Theatre and the Spotlighters performed at Liberty Hall, providing their own tribute, to honor Mrs. Walp.
Mrs. Walp served for many years on the Buena Park Fine Arts Commission; she was a member of Soroptimist International of Buena Park and both she and husband, Tom, were members of the Buena Park Community Chorus and traveled extensively with the Chorus for performances that included trips to Canada and Hawaii, and both were active members of the Buena Park Noon Lions Club. Also, the Walps were members of Messiah Lutheran Church in Buena Park for many years.
Mrs. Walp attended every production of the BPYT until her health would not allow her to continue her years of dedicated service to the community.
The BPYT is a City of Buena Park Cultural and Fine Arts Commission program.
The Walps were married in 1948 and shared 68 years of companionship until his passing.
Surviving family members include Mrs. Walp’s, daughter Barbara Kugelmann, son Glenn (Dolores), son Alan (Nili) Walp; six grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
