Mary Ruth Stone, a long-time pastor and educator, died on December 7 in Cleveland, Tennessee. She was 80 years old.
A native of Crisfield, Maryland, her parents were both ministers in the Church of God, serving as pastors in the United States, and as missionaries in Trinidad, Tobago, and Grenada. Stone met her husband while enrolled as a student at what is now Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. After graduation, the couple entered the ministry together.
Stone taught in public and private K-12 schools and served on the faculty at Lee University on three different occasions. She also taught at the College of Saint Mary, Metropolitan Technical Community College, the University of Nebraska-Omaha, and the School of Christian Ministry and Patten University in California.
In 1987, Stone was the first woman to be the commencement speaker at Lee University. She concluded her career as an instructor and director of faculty development at Lee University in 2016.