Ruth R Horne's Obituary
Ruth Ellen Renich Horne, dear mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend died on June 25, 2023, surrounded by family members, and uplifted by the prayers of friends around the world.
Ruth was born to John and Eileen Renich on July 10, 1945, in Seattle, WA. She was the second of four daughters to a family that was in full-time ministry, so she learned about Jesus, service to others, and sacrifice from an early age. The family moved from Seattle to Savannah, GA, when Ruth was two, and she spent her childhood and formative years there.
After graduating from high school in 1963, Ruth headed to Atlanta to attend nursing school. She attended First Baptist Church, Atlanta, where she met John Franklin Horne, an engineering student at Georgia Tech. On September 11, 1965, the two were married in a double ceremony with older sister Elouise and David Fraser as the second couple.
The family moved to Melbourne, Florida, where John began his engineering career. Not much time passed, and oldest son, Mark, was born in 1967, followed by Jay in 1971. In 1972, John and Ruth answered a call to missions. After a year of training at Columbia Bible College, the family went to the other side of the worldaround the globe to Liberia, West Africa, where they served for four years at ELWA Radio with Sudan Interior Mission. After leaving Liberia and the mission field, John’s engineering work took the family back to Florida and then on to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. At the end of their time in Kwajalein, the boys were grown and heading off to college. John and Ruth were on their own again, and spent their remaining years together in Hawaii, Arizona, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and finally landed in Dallas, Texas, to live near family for their remaining days.
Through all these moves, Ruth worked both inside and outside the home. She was an accomplished seamstress, the family CEO/CFO, homemaker, cook, decorator, logistics manager, nurturer, and much more. Ruth enjoyed spending time with family, working colorful puzzles, sewing, crochet and other needle arts, and music of all kinds. Through the years, she made clothes for her family and beautiful, crossed stitch artwork for her home. Each of her eight grandchildren received crocheted blankets upon their arrival, and they were prized possessions of childhood. Many young family friends also welcomed their little ones into a warm blanket made by Ruth Horne. She was also a lover of reading any good book, and especially God’s Word. She and John instilled a love for the Scriptures and a love of reading in her sons that continues to influence the lives of her family and others she met along the way.
At Ruth’s core, she was a woman who loved God and His people. She met and befriended people in every place she lived. Finding a church home and being an active part of the church was always a priority. She loved children and often served the youngest of the church with love, fun, and a firm but gentle hand. Her church family was always important to her, and her final years among the believers at New St Peters Presbyterian Church in Dallas were very special to her.
Her sons were the pride of her life. She was a faithful example of Christ’s love and a source of encouragement, love, and support to them to the very end. When Mark and Jay married, she welcomed their wives, Jennifer and Tricia, as daughters. Each son gave her four grandchildren whom she loved, cherished, laughed with, and prayed for throughout the time she had with them. Calvin, Nevin, Abigail, Jael, Jonathan, Nicolas, Charis, and Josiah were truly the joy of her life and the crown of her later years.
In addition to her sons and their families, Ruth leaves behind sisters, Elouise Fraser (David) and Judy Renich, many cousins, nieces and nephews, and friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, John and Eileen Renich, beloved husband, John, and sweet sister Diane Kelley (Clay).
We thank God for the life of Ruth Horne, a woman of God who inspired many to be more like Jesus.
Ruth will be laid to rest at 9:00AM on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Restland Memorial Park.
A Celebration of Life and Reception will follow the interment at 11:00AM at the Town North Presbyterian Church in Richardson.
In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions in Ruth's memory to the following:
https://mtw.org/missionaries/details/buerger-john-ellen
https://www.mtw.org/missionaries/details/luke-and-sokha-smith
https://newstpeters.org/give/
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