Ruth Jane Mathews Lacker

The Reverend Ruth Jane Mathews Lacker died Tuesday, July 31, 2012. She was a resident of Winding River Court, Woodland Terrace, Niles, Michigan. Funeral services will be held Saturday, August 4th, at 10:00 AM, officiated by Rev. Dr. Mary Beth Sarhatt at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, 4071 Naomi Rd., Sodus. Friends may call at Starks & Menchinger Chapel, St. Joseph, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Friday, August 3rd. Burial will be at North Shore Memory Gardens, Hagar Shores. Memorials may be made to Blossomland CROP Walk or the First Baptist Church, Kalamazoo, of which she was a member. Those wishing to leave an online condolence may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Rev. Lacker was born on January 13, 1923, in Norwood, Ohio. She was the wife of Rev. Robert J. Lacker, and the daughter of Rev. Dr. J. Stanley Mathews and Margaret Knell Mathews. Ruth was a graduate of Norwood High School, Norwood, Ohio, earned a BA degree, magna cum laude, from Wilmington College, Wilmington, Ohio, and a Master of Divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Rochester, NY. She was ordained into the Christian ministry in 1951 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by the Evanston Baptist Church and the Miami Baptist Association of the American Baptist Churches, USA. She served churches with her husband in New York, Ohio and Michigan, and held several positions of leadership, including as Co-President with her husband of the American Baptist Churches of Michigan, and served on its governing board for many years. Locally, Rev. Lacker was well-known for her involvement in interdenominational and inter-racial affairs. She served as president of the Berrien County Association of Churches from 1976-1979 (first woman to hold that position), and again from 1986-1989. She helped organize and was the first president of COPEC (Citizens Organized for Peace, Education and Cooperation), a committee of the religious community which helped lay the groundwork for the peaceful acceptance of Benton Harbor School desegregation. She was instrumental in the founding of the Benton Harbor Street Ministry and served on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Committee in cooperation with the Southwestern Michigan Ministerial Alliance for many years. Ruth was Coordinator of the Blossomland CROP Walk for 19 years to raise funds to feed the hungry, locally and around the world. In 1997 she was the recipient of the Margaret B. Upton Volunteer Leadership Award from the Berrien County United Way. In 2012, Ruth and her husband were the recipients of the “Catching the Dream Award” given by the Southwestern Michigan Ministerial Alliance and the Berrien County Association of Churches. For many years, Ruth was a frequent Bible study leader for Church Women United, and as guest preacher for local churches of various denominations. Ruth is survived by her husband of 69 years, Rev. Robert J. Lacker; two daughters, Margie A. (Kenneth) Krieger, Benton Harbor, Rev. Barbara (Rev. Michael) Lacker-Ware, Rochester, NY; four grandchildren, Rev. Eric (Meagan) Burton-Krieger, Heather Krieger, Jestine Ware, Jason Ware; a sister, Evelyn L. (Rudgley) Calhoun, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. She was preceded in death by her parents, Margaret. Knell Mathews in 1964, and Rev. Dr. J. Stanley Mathews in 1974, a sister, Lois M. (William) Chambers in 1988, and a brother, S. Paul (Thelma) Mathews in 2004.