Ruth Rickey and her husband Robert own Ruth’s Sweete Justice.  Ruth graduated from Henderson State University in Arkansas with a double major in Speech & Drama and English Education, with minors in Psychology and Business.  She graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and practiced law locally for about 10 years.  Ruth’s last position as an attorney was deciding unemployment appeals for the State of Oklahoma. 

 During a hiatus from the State, Ruth took a job at an upscale grocery decorating cakes for fun for six months until it was time to return to the State.  Budget battles for the government ensued and she just kept designing cakes in the meantime.  It became clear that Ruth had a talent for decorating and for running a bakery.  She was named Bakery Manager and ran the bakery for the next several years.  In 1999, Ruth was named IGA’s Bakery Manager of the Year for 3200 stores in 31 countries.  She knew it was time to branch out on her own.

During the summer of 2009, Ruth was honored to become one of only 14 ICES Certified Master Sugar Artists in the world! She underwent a grueling 8 hour test during which she had to create a 3 tier wedding cake, a single tier cake in buttercream icing and a non-cake sugar piece. View her creations here. She had to show Master level work on 8 different techniques worth a total of 21 difficulty points. Ruth's test scores were simply stellar.

 Ruth has been honored by being the subject of television, magazine and newspaper articles on her switch from law to cakes.  Her cakes have appeared in publications across the U.S., as well as overseas.  She has won well over 200 awards for decorating excellence at competitions across the U.S., including 3 Gold Medals in the National Wedding Competition at the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show. Ruth has consistently been placing in the Top 10 at National Wedding competitions over the last few years. Ruth was recently given the 2010 The Sweet Life Hall of Fame award at the National Capital Area Cake Show.  Ruth has now appeared on The Food Network, WE TV and TLC for various cake competitions.

 Ruth began as a self-taught decorator, then took the basic Wilton courses.  She has since studied with a veritable Who’s Who of sugar artists including:  Eleanor Rielander, Betty VanNorstrand, Margaret Braun, Alan Dunn, Steve Benison, Margaret Ford, Rosa Viacava de Ortega, Kim Morrison, Glenda Galvez and JoEllen Simon.  Ruth has been incredibly lucky to meet some of the most well known cake and sugar artists in the world and is blessed to call most of them friends. View pictures of Ruth with these talented artists and other personal heroes here.

Ruth has demonstrated at numerous cake shows and events and is the instructor at the Oklahoma Sugar Art Academy. While Ruth doesn't get to teach locally as much as she would like, she seems to be teaching somewhere every month or so. She is working on a program for offering more classes here in OKC. First known for her comical hand modeled figures, Ruth is now widely recognized for her realistic gumpaste dolls, her numerous sugar painting techniques and her lifelike flowers. One of Ruth's true specialties is her Dusting 101 class where she teaches students how to layer color and other techniques to achieve flowers that look real. Ruth teaches across the United States and has become known for her teaching excellence, as well. View pictures from some of her classes here. 

 Ruth is happily married with an amazing step-son who recently moved to Oklahoma.  She is also mother to 2 charming cats and 3 dogs. 

Ruth was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in March of 2001.  She is currently in full genetic remission thanks to a wonder drug called Gleevec.  Gleevec was discovered after a $500,000 grant from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training Program.  Ruth has been an active participant with TNT since 2005 and just completed her 9th endurance event with them in October 2009.  Ruth is now training to do 3 endurance events in 5 weeks. You can find out more on her class and events page. See pictures of her marathons and bike rides here. You can find out about joining the nation's largest endurance sports team at www.teamintraining.org/ok.  Many of her customers have become participants.