Ruth VanHuss

Myrtle Ruth Harrison VanHuss

October 27, 1935 – June 7, 2022

Age 86

Ruth’s greatest successes and victories were in living for God and her family. Born to Rupert and Mary Harrison in Montgomery, AL, on October 27, 1935, she was a child of the second World War and knew the rations of wartime and the heartaches of having a father serving in the Army. At the age of 12, when her mother was no longer present in the home, she became her father’s homemaker and helper, taking on adult responsibilities at that early age.

As a high school student at Montgomery Bible School that later became Faulkner University, she was a member of the chorus and developed life-long friendships. At a young age, she fell in love with a handsome preacher, Ralph Wharton, whom she married at the age of 17, and by the age of 21 she was a mother to her three children.

Her life was filled with service to God by caring for her family and serving others. She taught Sunday school classes for many years and when the family moved to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 1965 to do mission work, she was a vibrant and essential part of the work, not only teaching Sunday school, but also training young women to develop and teach Bible lessons. Even after returning from the mission field, in her later years she continued doing mission work by teaching through World Bible School and by giving to ministries that were dear to her, especially to a ministry for underprivileged children in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and to an orphanage in Honduras.

She never missed a worship service or church gathering if she was able to attend and was always caring for the sick and bereaved. She used every talent God gave her, whether it was sewing and mending clothes for her family and others, preparing food for sick or shut-ins or fellowships or the bereaved, or helping to build furniture for the new church in the mission field. Then as her family grew up, she turned to working in the medical field, first as a nurse’s aide at a nursing home and then at Memorial Hospital in Gulfport and later as a physical therapy assistant at the VA Medical Center, from which she retired after over 20 years of service.

Even when she was barely able to care for herself, she was always looking for ways to do something for someone else. She is remembered by those who knew her best as a sweet, godly woman who loved serving others.

The mission work she did to share the gospel in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and through World Bible School as well as in dozens of churches around the South leaves a legacy that will be remembered by many.

Ruth quietly transitioned into eternity in her sleep in Carriere, MS, on June 7, 2022.

She is survived by: William R. (Randy) Wharton Jr., son, of Dresden, Ohio; Rhonda Lynne Vaughan, daughter, of Pass Christian, Mississippi; Susan Renee’ Harrison, daughter, of Gulfport, Mississippi; seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to her favorite ministry – St. Vincent and the Grenadines Christian Aid. Checks may be made payable to SVGCA, c/o Rhonda Vaughan, 705 Waverly Drive, Bay St. Louis, MS 39520.

Friends are invited to join the VanHuss family for visitation and services on Sunday, June 12, 2022, at Riemann Family Funeral Home, 19130 Commission Road, Long Beach, MS 39560. Visitation will be held from 1:00 until 2:00 p.m. with the funeral service to follow at 2:00 p.m.  Mrs. VanHuss will be laid to rest at Conn Cemetery in Long Beach.

TRIBUTES that have been offered:

We are thankful for the role she played in our lives as young Christians. She will be long remembered by the early converts across the Caribbean. May her soul rest in peace. - Elliott and Avis Glasgow – St. Vincent

Your Mom was a great lady and I loved her. She always treated me like family. I'll cherish that always.

- Michelle Lynn - Diamondhead

Your mom and dad will long be remembered for their pioneering work in the gospel in SVG [������������]

-  Joel Jack – St. Vincent

Ruth has fought a good fight and finished her course, now she looks forward to her crown.

- Nowell Soleyn – St. Vincent