Sister Ruth Kelly, CCVI

Sister Ruth Kelly, CCVI, died on May 27, 2015 at Placidus Place. She was born in 1920 to John Edward and Viva Voce Hamilton Kelly in Palestine, TX. She entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Houston, TX on January 15, 1940 at Villa de Matel. Sister consecrated her life to God by Perpetual Profession of Vows on December 8, 1947. Her first mission was to the elderly poor at St. Anthony’s Home, Houston.

By profession, Sr. Ruth became a degreed, registered nurse and assisted the sick especially in surgery, OR, pediatrics, and obstetrics at the hospitals sponsored by the Congregation: Schumpert in Shreveport, LA; Hotel Dieu in Beaumont, TX; St. Mary’s, Galveston; and for twelve years at St. Joseph’s, Houston. It was in 1961 that Sr. Ruth received the 1st Charles B. Moore Award, the U.S.A.’s outstanding surgical nurses’ honor at the National Congress of the Association of Operating Nurses in Denver.

In 1963, Sr. Ruth volunteered and became one of the Congregation’s first four Sisters to minister to the poor and sick in the National Hospital of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Years later, Sister returned to the U.S.A. and continued surgical nursing at St. Michael, Texarkana, AR. She became one of the first CCVI nurses at St. Francis Hospital, Tulsa, OK. In 1976, Sr. Ruth returned to the National Hospital in Huehuetenango in the ER-outpatient dept. With characteristic enthusiasm, Sr. Ruth in 1978 and for the next fourteen years, accepted the challenge of administrator of El Amparo de San Jose, a center which cares for the destitute and abandoned of the city. Here is “where she was happiest as this is what she always wanted to do-- to accompany the poor and needy in their sufferings and loneliness by giving them the love they had never experienced.” Returning to Texas, Sister served as a patient representative at Schumpert in Shreveport and St. Joseph Home, Monroe, LA. Her final days were spent in prayer ministry at Villa de Matel Center communities. Gifts and talents given to her by God have been shared so generously with others; now, our Lord Jesus Christ called her to Himself.

Sr. Ruth is survived by nieces and nephews: Lois McCullar, Claire Lauber, Lucille Cook, Kay Miller, Margaret Henning, John Shipp, Philip Watson, Nancy Cook, many great nieces and nephews, and long-time friend, Norma Hancock. A special thank you is extended to all who assisted Sister at Placidus Place Convent.

Sister Ruth’s body will be received at the Immaculate Conception Chapel, Villa de Matel, 6510 Lawndale Street, Houston, Texas at 5:00 PM on May 31, 2015, followed by Evening Praise and a celebration of her life. Mass of Christian Burial will be held in the Immaculate Conception Chapel at 10:30 AM on June 1, 2015. The Rite of Committal will follow at Villa De Matel Cemetery.