I found this thread doing a search for Pete Ruh - I worked at his nursery Sunnybrook Farms during the 70s and 80s. When his son Tim took over I worked for him.

Pete and his wife Jean took over the nursery from Jean's parents and it became known for growing and selling unusual house plants, herbs, perennials and of course hostas.

Last summer I helped out a friend that was the main gardener for Pete's "Homestead Division" (and built most of the stone raised beds for Pete) when they got older. He told me the whole place has grown up in Canada Thistle and it is "overseen" by their daughter Janet that now owns the farm. She raises many goats ...and how do I put this nicely, she is kind of crazy and my guess is that she has allowed her animals to graze on the property so the only one that has raided Pete's Hostas are his daughter's goats. So sad. I was also told that there are piles of information in the basement Pete had assembled through the years corresponding with hosta growers in Japan and around the world that is probably a wealth of knowledge and info on the subject. Pete's daughter guards it for some reason and will not share the information with anyone. Pete and Jean were very active in the community, Pete was a school bus driver and Jean was very active in a local church. When Pete died it was kind of strange - the story I got was that his daughter was taking him to a doctor's appointment and he died in the car on the way.... no obituary, no mention anywhere about him after he was gone. Honestly it struck many as a little strange, the circumstances that surrounded his death. I hate to think this way but I also know that Pete was worth a small fortune and his two children were just waiting for him to pass. Again, kind of a sad situation. I really learned a lot from both Jean and Pete and thought highly of them. Can't say that about his children though.

Pete's hosta beds were extensive, he also grew rare woodland plants and evergreens along with his hosta collection. He may be gone but he won't ever be forgotten in the Hosta/plant world.