Ruth Parham Manning

Ruth Parham Manning
Celebration of Life Service
Saturday, September 18, 2021 - 11:00 AM followed by a reception 12:00 - 2 PM
Cannon United Methodist Church, 2424 Webb Gin House Road, Snellville Ga 30078

Ruth Parham Manning, age 91, God’s angel and faithful servant on earth, went to be with her Heavenly Father Wednesday, January 13, 2021. She had an amazing love and connection with God that guided her daily life.
Ruth is survived by her brother Paul Parham and his wife Mary Ruth, her daughter Jennifer Manning Craft and husband Ken, her three sons, Pryor Manning and wife Lannis, Bob Manning and wife Kari, and Mark Manning and wife April; 14 grandchildren, Emily Craft Crocker and husband Michael, Geoff Craft and wife Jess, Matt Manning and wife Kaylyn, Drew Manning, Megan Manning Kinsel and husband Carl, Rob Manning, Karl Manning, Lauren Manning, Elizabeth Manning, Sarah Manning, Luke Manning, and three step-grandchildren, Caleb, Rebecca and Joshua Watson; four great grandchildren, Ashton Cox, Lyla Manning, Tallulah Kinsel and June Craft and many nephews and nieces. Her family was her pride and joy, all of whom she loved and cherished deeply while influencing greatly their love for Christ, education, and service to others. She is preceded in death by her husband, Reverend Norman Manning, Jr. (a United Methodist minister), parents, Robert and Ethel Parham, sister, Doris Parham Miller and brothers, Robert, Jr., Carl and Earl Parham.
Ruth was a true disciple of Christ continually sharing her love of God to make disciples of others. Her favorite bible verse was Matthew 21:21, “If you have faith and do not doubt, you can move mountains. And if you believe, you will receive what you ask for in prayer.” This verse guided her life and provided many mountain moving miracles.
Ruth’s life was devoted to sharing and helping others. This guided her lifelong involvement in education. As the wife of a Methodist minister, she and her family moved frequently. At each church assignment, she focused on launching a pre-school education program for the church. When her children entered high school, Ruth went back to teaching in the Dekalb County School system. As a music teacher, she taught students the love and joy of music. The highlight of each year was an original Christmas play for the first graders which she wrote and directed. These are still talked about by her students and performed today. From a music teacher, she moved into leadership as a lead teacher and principal. This culminated with many years of service as principal at Fernbank Elementary School from which she later retired. Her devotion and focus were to engage with students and excite them to learn. This was best shown by her presence at lunch time. Ruth would give her teachers a break and spend lunch time with the students. She would use this time to talk with students always finding unique and creative ways to engage them. While principal at Fernbank Elementary School, she reached out and created a strong, lifelong partnership with the Fernbank Science Center. This partnership grew to create multiple programs for elementary students to learn about the sciences and for parents to learn parenting and self-help skills. Ruth was always searching for ways to help and support young and old. This led to her association with NASA and the SEMAA program which addressed student and parent learning. It was her work with NASA and its SEMAA program which garnered her national recognition from NASA for creating and developing the most outstanding SEMAA program in the country, the only one which was free, and locally generated recognition from the 11Alive Community Service Award. In her 11Alive acceptance speech, she said, “Yes, I am a retired educator, but I am not a retired servant.” She was inducted into the Morehouse College Hall of Honor for Clergy and Laity for her work bringing people together to learn parenting skills, how to work together, how to give back to others and to enjoy life’s walk together as one under God.
Ruth was on the Board of Directors for Aldersgate Homes, an outreach mission and related agency of the North Georgia conference of the United Methodist Church serving persons with developmental disabilities. Aldersgate’s outreach included the funding of many improvements of Camp Collinswood, a recreational retreat. Ruth was a prolific grant writer who worked to secure funds for the building and expansion of the retreat. She was most proud of the Ruth Manning cottage dedicated in her name.
Ruth faithfully supported the Salvation Army, especially the Red Shield homeless shelter in downtown Atlanta. Her work at the shelter expanded to include an annual Mother’s Day breakfast in addition to regular financial support and collection of food, clothing, and necessities. For many years, the Mother’s Day breakfast provided recognition for moms who worked through daily challenges in life. This provided a great spiritual confirmation of God’s grace and power. The children at the shelter enjoyed learning and playing chess. When she saw this, “Miss Ruth” as she was fondly known, encouraged the children to learn the books of the Bible to enhance their memory and brain power. What started with four young boys grew to over 100 children and led to the collection of Bibles for distribution to all residents at the homeless shelter.
Family was paramount to Miss Ruth. Through the national American Mother’s Association and its Georgia state chapter, she worked tirelessly for family. She represented Georgia as its 1988 Mother of the Year and was runner-up at the national convention. She was President of the Board of Directors for the National American Mother’s Association from 1999 - 2001 and president of the Georgia state chapter for many years. Through both entities she worked to distribute baby blankets to new mothers and helped create books to give to new mothers and their children. Both associations, national and state, sponsor competitions for students and offer scholarship support. For her accomplishment, she was recognized as the first National Mother of Achievement.
Throughout her life, the church was where Ruth’s heart and passion were most rooted and devoted. She opened her heart completely to God, always listening for his guidance and direction. At every church her husband served, her imprint was evident. It started with singing in the Chancel Choir. She was an active choir member throughout her life. Singing for God provided her great joy. She devoted over 50+ years teaching vacation bible school to rising 6th graders. Miss Ruth provided them a strong foundation for loving Christ through memorizing the books of the Bible. During those 50+ years, over 1000 children learned the books of the Bible. She directed a 5th -6th grade choir for many years which included an end of the year weekend trip to a campground. It was at one of these retreats that a miracle of Ruth’s occurred when God led her to find a child’s missing shoe in a river, the only pair of shoes the child owned, with the first reach of her hand into the water. This was one of many miracles through which God guided Ruth in answer to her prayer. For many years she taught a Disciple study class teaching many Christians a deeper understanding of the Bible. During the later mature years of her life, she started and guided a Sunday School class of retired individuals (whom she considered an extension of her family). She always encouraged all to learn and recite the books of the Bible as she did until Alzheimer’s robbed her of her memory.
Her last years were spent at Delmar Gardens, an amazing retirement community, which provided her great support and love. Her love and devotion for God continued to shine in these final years of her life. Her life was one of complete devotion to God. Ruth’s love of God provided her the opportunity to share this love with everyone she encountered. She was a true disciple.
A heartfelt thanks to all the care givers and staff at Delmar Gardens. They were instrumental in keeping her happy and comfortable in her final years.
If desiring, donations may be made to the following entities dear to Miss Ruth: The Salvation Army Red Shield homeless shelter on Marietta street in downtown Atlanta, attention: Janeane Schmidt; the preschool program of Cannon United Methodist Church in Snellville, attention: Sherrye Beebe; and Aldersgate Homes Collinswood Retreat, attention: Aldersgate/Collinswood 2428 Main Street East, Snellville, GA 30078. If desiring to send flowers, please send to A.S. Turner funeral home in Decatur by Saturday, January 16th.