She was a beloved child of God, and over her 98 years faithfully and lovingly fulfilled the roles of daughter, sister, pastor’s wife — serving nine churches with her late husband, the Reverend Charles Columbus Shaw; pastor in her own right — serving seven churches over 20 years; mother of seven, grandmother of 18, great-grandmother of 37, and great-great-grandmother of one.
Ruth was born on Feb. 19, 1923, in Porterdale, GA, the 11th (and final) child of the late Benjamin Wilson Baird and the late Ieula Ann Dick Baird. She was preceded in death by her ten siblings: Brothers Wilson Grice Baird, William Bogan (Bill) Baird, Charles Morrison (Charlie) Baird, John Thomas Baird, Jackson Irvin (Jack) Baird, and James Leon Baird; sisters Esther Louise Campbell, Lola Frances Baird, Vera Mae Loyd, and Mary Elizabeth Shepherd. All lived into adulthood except Lola, who died as an infant, and Leon who died at age three.
Ruth and Charles grew up in mill towns about 15 miles apart: Porterdale and Milstead, GA. They met as teenagers and were married in 1938. Charles was 19 and Ruth was 15. They began a family right away and are survived by all seven of their children: Dr. Janice Diane Crouse (Gilbert) of Laurel, MD; Lynda Joan Turrentine (Jim) of Rome; Charles Terrell Shaw (Sheila) of Rome; Mary Carol Johnston (Ron) of Franklin, TN; Deborah Ruth Lewis (Gregg) of Rome; Sharlyn Beth Roszel of Grovetown, GA; and David Baird Shaw (Vicki) of Munford, AL. A son-in-law, Dr. Charles Hardy Roszel died in 2013.
Following World War II, Charles felt a call to the ministry and in 1950, with four children, the family moved to Wilmore, KY so that Charles could attend Asbury College. Ruth and Charles had both finished high school after they married and both highly valued education. Around her roles as wife and mother, Ruth managed to read many of Charles’ college textbooks simply for the pleasure of learning.
After four years of college and student pastorates, the family (now with five children) moved to Griffin, GA where Charles began seminary at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and served as pastor at two small churches. Four years later, with a Masters of Divinity for Charles and seven children from college age to infancy, the family moved to their first full-time pastorate at Watkins Memorial Methodist Church in Ellijay.
Charles’ pastoral years took them from Ellijay to Trinity Methodist Church in Rome (1962-1967) and on to Fairburn, Atlanta, Austell, and Forest Park. Charles took early retirement after two heart attacks and they settled in College Park, GA, and Charles began serving a part-time pastorate at Rico United Methodist Church in Rico, GA in 1985.
Ruth had started taking college classes while they were in Rome and continued to do so sporadically over the years. At one point she was talking with her brother Bill about whether she should finish her college degree. He said, “Ruth, do it while you’re still young.” She was 57; he was in his 70s. She did finish the degree, graduating from Georgia State University in 1985 with a degree in Gerontology.
On Dec. 3, 1986, Charles suffered another heart attack and Ruth was widowed at age 63. After two Sundays of fill-in preachers at Rico Methodist, the congregation asked the District Superintendent if Ruth could fill out the year as their pastor. She had preached there several times in Charles’ stead and for years both she and Charles felt that she was being called to preach the gospel.
Ruth agreed, and served Rico for three years. During that time she enrolled in Candler at Emory and in 1990 earned her own Master of Divinity degree. In June 1990 she began a full-time pastorate at Grantville United Methodist Church where she served three years until she reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Ruth was respected and beloved at all the churches she pastored and her congregations grew in spirituality as well as numbers. She continued to serve after retiring from Grantville, first at East Point Avenue United Methodist Church (1993-1997), and after moving to Rome, at Trinity United Methodist as Pastor of Congregational Care (1997-2001), Lyerly United Methodist (6 months), Oostanaula United Methodist (2001-2002) and Livingston United Methodist (2007).
She was for many years active in the Rome Area Writers group and in her 80s published a blog of reminiscences and life stories that were later released as a book, The Chronicles of Ruth. She published four other books of recipes, poems and sermons: Recipes, Rhymes and Reflections; Life with Wings; Fifty-Two Sundays; and Look at the Book. A collection of her private papers will be donated to Harvard’s Schlesinger Library Women’s History Project.
Funeral services will be held at 4 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 6, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Rome, preceded by visitation from 2-3:30 p.m. Interment will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7 at East View Cemetery in Conyers, GA.
In lieu of flowers the family suggests friends and relatives consider donations to the PALS mothers’ morning out program at Trinity United Methodist Church, 606 Turner McCall Blvd., Rome GA 30165; or Lily’s Garden (childhood cancer fund), c/o Jan Duckworth, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, 2525 West End Avenue, Suite 450, Nashville, TN 37203.
Friends and family attending the committal service on Saturday are encouraged to gather at Crossroads United Methodist Church, 2460 Highway 138 NE, Conyers, GA before 1:45 p.m. in preparation for the procession to the cemetery. An air-conditioned room, drinking water, and restroom facilities will be available beginning at noon. Those who drive directly to the cemetery should be careful to leave space for the hearse and procession to access to the gravesite.
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