Ruthie Browning
NABS is proud to announce Ruthie Browning as the featured diver.
Spotlight Diver: Ruthie
Ruthie became a certified Open Water (OW) diver in 2006 at the age of 58, fulfilling a long-held dream. Though she had always been a “water baby,” her interest in scuba diving was piqued in 1995 when her friend, Kimberly Partlow, got certified and began traveling the world. At the time, Ruthie was a busy mom with full and part-time jobs, leaving little opportunity to take up scuba diving.
Ten years later, determined to pursue her passion, Ruthie made significant work adjustments. She left her position as an adjunct professor at Prince George’s Community College to attend the UAS OW classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. After becoming a UAS certified diver, Dr. Jones encouraged her to join the National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NABS), which she did enthusiastically. Ruthie attended her first NABS Summit in Curaçao and has missed only two summits since then.
In her effort to support NABS, Ruthie became actively involved in summit activities, co-chairing the events in Grand Cayman, Honduras, and Key Largo, and chairing the summit in Cozumel.
For her 60th birthday, Ruthie discovered Lake Rawlings (now Lake Phoenix), a camping and scuba park. She celebrated her birthday there with friends for four years, and UAS has continued to use it as a training ground. This annual birthday celebration evolved into a winter getaway, with Cozumel being her destination of choice due to its affordability and a contact she had made during the 2014 Summit. This year, her birthday trip took her to St. Croix.
Ruthie loves Live-Aboards and has traveled to the Bahamas for these experiences. She serves as the second in command for Aqua Corps, assisting with scheduling dives at the annual summit and ensuring an Aqua Corps leader is available every fourth Saturday for the live scuba trip.
Congratulations! So inspired by your accomplishments and commitment to your true self. Continue to boldly explore all that life has to offer.
All the best.
Great job Cat,
Vernon Beard Sr.
I live In Moore SC. Are there any folks near me? Recently OW certified
The closest club is in Atlanta Atlanta Underwater Explorers or the Southern SeaQuestrians or the club in North Carolina called Nubian Divers of Charlotte.
I actually thought I was the most senior certified black diver; Got PADI Certified 1982 (open water). Be safe my friend.
My sister, Ruthie, encouraged me to become a certified diver by saying “if I can do it, anybody can do it.”. Well I tried it and really struggled with becoming a good diver. Ruthie encouraged me A LOT. She kept giving me pointers and referred me to seasoned NABS divers who also took time to assist me. Ruthie continued to take me on dive trips with her to amazing locations and continues to be my dive buddy whenever we dive together. Congratulations my sister on an illustrious dive journey. You deserve the accolades.