Ruth Steele

Ruth Evelyn Ringstaff Steele RICHLANDS, Va. Ruth Evelyn Ringstaff Steele, age 97, passed away Wednesday, June 9, 2010, at the Mayfair House. Born Feb. 19, 1913, at Pounding Mill, Va., she was the daughter of the late Lawrence Walker Sr. and Harriet Sparks Ringstaff. She was a 1931 graduate of Richlands High School. Ruth was a member of the First Christian Church in Richlands and was active in Sunday school and Philathian Guild. She worked at Clinch Valley Clinic as office nurse for Dr. Lynn Kirby for 25 years. Dr. Kirby encouraged her to sit for boards and she was able to earn a voucher enabling her to be a licensed practical nurse. Ruth was also a volunteer in the Clinch Valley Medical Center Auxiliary and was the recipient of the Frist Humanitarian Award 2002. She touched many lives working and volunteering. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, James Harold Steele; brothers, Willis H. Ringstaff and Lawrence Walker Ringstaff Jr.; and son-in-law, Don Wilson. She is survived by two daughters, Jimmie Ruth Speeks and husband Dwight and Barbara Lynn VanDyke Wilson; grandchildren, Danny Speeks and wife Cathy, Jeffrey Speeks, Nancy Lynn Speeks Watson and husband Jeff and Joseph R. VanDyke and wife Laura; great-grandchildren, Maggie Speeks Holder and husband Shawn, Keri Speeks, Michael Watson, Melody Speeks, James VanDyke, Emily VanDyke and Christine VanDyke; great-great-granddaughter, Aly Speeks; nieces, Ann Ringstaff Compton, Pat Ringstaff Chase, Harriet Ringstaff Long and Janet Ringstaff Wilson. Funeral services will be conducted at 3 p.m. Friday, June 11, 2010, at Singleton Funeral Service Chapel at Cedar Bluff, Va., with Rev. Stafford Compton officiating. Burial will follow in the Greenhills Memory Gardens at Claypool Hill, Va. Family and friends will serve as pallbearers. The family will receive friends from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Singleton Funeral Service at Cedar Bluff, Va. Special thanks to Mayfair staff and especially to "Ruthie's Girls", Sue Bandy and Legacy Hospice. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First Christian Church, P.O. Box 1307, Richlands, VA 24641; or Legacy Hospice, 1963 Second St., Richlands, VA 24641. Online condolences may be sent to the family by going to www.SingletonFuneralService.com Singleton Funeral Service is serving the Steele family.