Thomas, Ruth Dick (1913-1981)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1981 Jul 2 p. 11

Birth date: 1913 Aug 7

text of obituary:

RUTH DICK THOMAS

Ruth Dick Thomas was born to Aaron A. and Sarah Voth Dick on Aug. 7, 1913 at Dalmeny, Sask. In 1916 the family moved to Lustre, Mont. with a covered wagon. There Ruth grew up. She was baptized on Sept. 21, 1924, and accepted as a member of the Lustre Mennonite Brethren Church.

She attended Tabor Academy and College in Hillsboro, Kan., where she graduated from high school and took some college courses. While there she met Henry F. Thomas, and they were married on Aug. 7, 1938. They moved to western Kansas, where Henry taught school for four years and helped in churches in the area.

In 1942 the Southern district Conference of Mennonite Brethren churches appointed them to missionary work in South Texas among the Latin American people. They spent 17 years in the work, which has always been very dear to them.

She taught home Bible classes, Sunday school and children’s lessons in the Sunday evening church services. She was also greatly concerned about the health of the people, taking many of them to doctors and clinics. She herself was not strong physically, which made it necessary to leave the field in 1960.

After a year of medical treatment in Oklahoma, she moved with her husband to Reedley, Calif. for outreach among Spanish-speaking people of that area. Again her health failed, and she required more medical treatment and rest. She then worked as a nurse’s aide in Pleasant View manor of Reedley. she graduate as a licensed vocational nurse from Fresno City College, and worked in the Dinuba Hospital and Pleasant View Manor until she and her husband moved to Santa Cruz and then Soquel. There she worked for the Santa Cruz County Health Department until retirement in 1976.

The Lord blessed them with three sons: Marlin, Daniel and Arthur. She supported her husband in having a regular family altar, which served to unite the family in Christ.

In 1980 she was stricken with a malignancy from which she did not recover. She died quietly on June 17, 1981. Surviving are her husband; three sons, Marlin and wife Janice of Waukegan, Ill., Daniel and wife Karen of Sacramento, Calif.; and Arthur and wife Nancy of Watsonville, Calif.; a sister, Luella Koslowsky; a brother, Karl Dick; her stepmother, Susanna Dick; and nine grandchildren. One brother, Earnest, preceded her in death.