Ratzlaff, Ruth Leona Regier (1913-1992)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1992 Feb 27 p. 7

Birth date: 1913

text of obituary:

Missionary Nurse Who Served 36 Years in India Dies

Newton, Kan. (GCMC)—Ruth Leona (Regier) Ratzlaff, a missionary nurse in India for 36 years with the Commission on Overseas Mission, died Feb. 16 at Newton Medical Center. She was 79.

Ratzlaff and her husband, Harold, who survives, entered missionary service in 1940 and worked in Saraipali, Jagdeeshpur, Champa, Korba and Janjgir.

COM executive secretary Erwin Rempel said, "Ruth's colleagues remember her as one who was extremely capable, well organized, one who stepped in and offered help, a solid, strong and stable worker, a reconciler, one who modeled a simple lifestyle, one who brought balance into discussions and a historian."

Ratzlaff's interest in history led her to write a book, Fellowship in the Gospel, India: 1900-1950. Later she completed a draft that covered the years 1950 to 1970.

Memorials for Ratzlaff have been designated for the publication of a new history book on India missions.

Other survivors include a daughter, Mary Ann Jensen of Lake Jackson, Texas; two brothers, Herbert Regier of Memphis, Tenn., and Louis Regier of Wichita, Kan., and two grandchildren.

A memorial service was held Feb. 18 at Bethel College Mennonite Church, North Newton, where she was a member. Darrell Fast officiated, preceded by a private graveside service.

The Mennonite obituary: 1992 Mar 10 p. 114