By Emily Randall
Northeast News
Oct. 20, 2010

Kansas City leaders, Northeast residents and family members gathered this past Tuesday to give a final honor to Ruthanne Harper, the Northeast leader who died in March 2009.

The event included the unveiling of a plaque inside the new kiosk just outside the entrance to Cliff Drive near Gladstone and Benton boulevards. The plaque pictures Harper, lists her many community involvements and describes her as “a driving force behind the enhancement of many parks, community centers and boulevards in Kansas City.”

“I’m just really touched,” said Marguerite Manning, Harper’s sister. “She would be proud inside, but she would try to play it down.”

In addition to the panel in the kiosk, which is also officially named after Harper, the Parks and Recreation Department erected an honorary “Ruthanne Harper Boulevard” street sign near the Cliff Drive entrance.

Harper was a preservation activist who advocated for the Historic Northeast and the parks of Kansas City.