Ruth Stryzewski was born Ruth Esther Winter in Waushara County, Wisconsin, USA, on 20 February 1912. Her parents were Louis Winter and Marie (née Prellwitz) Winter. She had eight siblings and two foster siblings.

On 1 June 1937, she married Elmer Stryzewski in East Bloomfield, Wisconsin.

Her mother died at 96, her sister Marie Misterek lived to be 103, two other siblings lived into their 90’s, and her paternal cousin Lydia Koehler lived to be 100.

In December 2020, she contracted COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic, and was forced to isolate for several weeks. However, her symptoms were not severe enough to require hospitalization, and by January 2021 she had successfully recovered.

Stryzewski currently lives in a care home in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.