Ruth E Rodgers

Ruth Rodgers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1926. She stepped into eternity with her Lord and Savior on the morning of August 25, 2022.
 
Ruth E. Rodgers is the daughter of the late Edward and Marie Kapral. Her sister, the late Edna, who was four, chose her name, which means “friend”. While attending Ardsley Chapel with her parents, Ruth invited Jesus into her life. It was her desire that she would be used to help others make the same decisión.
 
While in elementary school and junior high, Ruth showed exceptional musical ability and excelled in voice, piano and all the basic subjects. She attended Abington High School and was invited to sing and play in many school functions. At the same time she became a member of The Church of the Open Door and formed a girls’ trio with two other 
vocalists. They were soon performing in the convention center on the Boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey, in Pinebrook Camp in the Pocono Mountains, and in evangelist Percy Crawford’s campaigns. In her own words she seldom stopped singing.
 
Ruth studied administration her junior and senior years of high school and worked in the office of the Reading Railroad Company. Upon graduating she attended Philadelphia School of the Bible in the evenings, where she heard about the excellent music and theater program in Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. There she majored in voice.
 
In 1950, Ruth met Paul Weir, who studied aviation at Moody Bible Institute to be a missionary bush pilot with Mission Aviation Fellowship. They were married in 1951 and assigned to southern Mexico. Daughter, Eunice Ruth, was born and after two years they were assigned to Honduras where son Stephen Paul was born- The family enjoyed a fruitful ministry of aviation and music until Paul suffered a fatal plane crash. Ruth moved to Miami to be with Eunice and Steve, who were studying there.
 
In 1972 Ruth reconnected with Dr. Ted Rodgers, a musician friend from her youth, an orthopedic surgeon, widower, and father of four children, Ted IV, Carol, Marylin and Susan. Their love and common call to serve others united them and they were married, creating a blended family. Dr. Ted moved his practice from Massachusetts to North Carolina. They worked on mission trips with Christian Medical Society.
 
Ted and Ruth came to Shell Point in 1995 and served together in many ways, always fulfilling their spiritual calling to share Jesus Christ with as many people as possible. Most significantly, they shared their musical gifts with the residents and produced twenty-two original Christmas Cantatas which were performed annually on Christmas Day at Shell Point. Dr. Ted was called home August 4, 2021. Ruth enjoyed overall good health, a clear mind and an outgoing personality until she passed into the presence of the Lord on August 25, 2022.

Ruth will be remembered for her expressive piano playing in many different venues. She possessed a unique elegance with her style of dress and every hair in place. This prompted the many friends she made over the yearsto refer to her as “a true lady”.
 
Ruth Rodgers was preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Marie Kapral, sister, Edna Isbell, husband, Paul Weir, second husband, Theodore Y. Rodgers, III. She is survived by her sons and daughters, Ted Rodgers, IV (Debbie), Eunice Sanjaime (Pedro), Carol Wagner (Richard), Marylin Rodgers, Stephen Weir (Priscilla) and Susan Foster and grandchildren Katie and Ted, V, Sheila and Melanie, Jaymie and Alison, Nathan and Rachel, Stephanie and Sarah, and several great grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life for Ruth will be held on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 10:30AM at the Village Church at Shell Point Retirement Community.

Entombment will be held privately with her immediate family at Fort Myers Memorial Gardens, where she will be laid to rest beside her late husband, Theodore.

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