Ruth MacMiller

1936 - 2019

McAllen - Ruth MacMiller, 83, entered into eternal rest on Sunday, August 18, 2019 at McAllen Medical Center.

Ruth was born in Rorvik, Sweden in 1936. She was the 4th of 10 children born to Eric and Gunhild Peterson. She was remarkable from the beginning having been delivered by her father as her arrival coincided with a heavy snow storm, which had made it too difficult to travel to the doctor. Ruth was 16 when she and her family immigrated from the woods of southern Sweden to Rockford, IL. Ruth attended Rockford East High School where along with the common curriculum she was tutored in English. Following high school, Ruth earned a nursing degree, becoming an RN, from Swedish Covenant Hospital-Northpark College in Chicago.

Soon after, she met the love of her life, Ben MacMiller, while attending Chicago Bible College. Sparks flew and they married a year later, August 20, 1960. Within a year their first child, Sharon was born. In January of 1963 they were ordained and sent by the Philadelphia Church of Chicago to be missionaries to Mexico. They moved to Mexico City where they studied the language and began to minister throughout the country. After a time in Mexico the family moved to the Texas border town of Roma. While in Roma, Susie, Lisbet, and James were born. Meanwhile, Ruth was appointed as the first nurse of the Starr County Health Department and also served in the Roma city hospital. From Roma, Ben, Ruth and family joined with other missionaries traveling into northern Mexico preaching and teaching the Gospel.

Following their time in Roma, the family moved to Mission, Texas in 1972, where Ruth continued her career in nursing, working at the Mission Hospital part-time while raising four children. In 1975, Ruth began working full-time as the school nurse of Sharyland ISD where she served for 23 years until her retirement. It was also during this time in Mission that Ben and Ruth co-founded Kingsway Missionary Institute, which was a Spanish language school whose purpose was to prepare missionaries for Latin America. Ruth taught health and hygiene at Kingsway, educating the students on how to cope with life in places with substandard or unavailable medical care, potable water, or sanitation.

Over the years Ben and Ruth's passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ led them to travel to several countries throughout the world from Latin America to Africa to Europe and Russia, from the Fiji and Philippine Islands to the Middle East. In 2002 the Lord prompted them to build a prayer center right in their back yard! With their own investment and hard work along with help from many volunteers and donations the building completed in 2005 and provides a meeting place for believers to pray and worship as well as a place for new churches to plant.

Ruth's imprint on this world from Rorvik to South Texas will surely last. Her legacy will continue to yield much fruit in the many lives she mended, taught, and loved. Ruth is survived by her husband Ben, four children - Sharon, Susie, Lisbet, and James, 14 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. She is also survived by 4 brothers - Jack, Bernt, John and Ted and 3 sisters - Lillian Engblom, Eva Spengler, and Inga Peterson.

Visitation and viewing will begin today, Tuesday, August 20, 2019 beginning at 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with a 7:00 p.m. Service of Remembrance at Ceballos Funeral Home Chapel at 1023 N. 23rd St., McAllen. Texas. The Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. at RGV Prayer Center, 3106 Harmony Lane, Mission, Texas, followed by a graveside ceremony at 11:00 a.m. at Valley Memorial Gardens Cemetery at 3605 N. Taylor Rd., McAllen, Texas. The MacMiller family entrusted their services to the care of Ceballos Funeral Home of McAllen.