Mrs. Ruth Ester Haynes

Ruth Ester Haynes (92) peacefully passed Saturday, on May 2, 2026, in San Luis Obispo, California. Anyone who was blessed to have known her immediately recognized a gentle spirit with an extraordinary power of positive influence. Ruth was a strong woman of faith who loved God, family, and people — and she loved See’s Candy.

Ruth was born on September 7, 1933, in DeKalb, Texas, to Charles Lester Walker and Estella (Bland) Walker. After her parent’s brief marriage ended, Estella and young Ruth made their way to Arkansas in 1937, where Estella met and married Leo Cole. Ruth was lovingly adopted into this new family, taking the name Ruth Esther Cole. As a child, she attended Red Bank Church in Hooks, Texas — a Foundation of faith that would shape every chapter of her life.

The year 1951 was one of celebration. Ruth graduated from Hooks High School and married the love of her life, Vern Hue Haynes, Sr., on January 6th. Ten days Later, Vern enlisted in the Army, and the young newlyweds packed their bags and headed west to Camp Roberts, just seventeen miles outside of Paso Robles, California. What began as a military assignment became a lifelong home. Vern and Ruth were married for 71 years — until his passing on May 20, 2022 — a union That was, by every measure, blessed by heaven.

Ruth stood faithfully by Vern’s side through every season: as the wife of an Army soldier, as a pastor’s wife after Vern was ordained as a Baptist minister at Second Baptist Church, in 1959, and as the mother of their five children — Vern, Lester, Terry, Sheila, and Dettra. She served her churches with quiet devotion, holding roles as Sunday School Superintendent and Teacher, President of the True Spirit Baptist Church Women’s Missionary, Church Volunteer Coordinator for the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank, and Coordinator of Operation Shoe Box. She also spent countless hours mentoring and counseling members and friends who were in need. Ruth never said “NO” to helping someone.

The community of Paso Robles received an extraordinary gift when the Haynes family put down roots there. In 1969, while raising five children and pursuing her lifelong dream of earning a college degree, Ruth was asked to help establish the local Salvation Army Unit. She saw the need and said yes — and she would not stop saying yes for the next 46 years. She served as treasurer, conducted home visits with clients, made calls on their behalf, and reached out to local businesses for support. She was the volunteer others called when no one else could come, reliable and knowledgeable in equal measure. Perhaps her greatest joy was coordinating the Ringing of the Bell each holiday season — standing in the cold with a wide smile, encouraging passersby to give. When her children came home For the holidays, she didn’t hesitate: “I have to go take care of my shift for ringing the Salvation Army bell — so let’s go!”

Ruth’s determination was perhaps best illustrated in 1977, when she graduated from college the same year three of her children also graduated — two from college and one from high school. She went on to begin her teaching career at Georgia Brown Elementary School in 1979, spending 19 years shaping young minds and connecting families in need with the church and community resources she knew so well. In 1981, she was honored with the Teacher of the Year Award —a recognition her students, colleagues, and their families knew she had long deserved.

In 1998, Ruth retired from teaching to care for her aging mother, but she never retired from the roles that defined her: wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and volunteer. She continued to give of herself daily, expecting nothing in return.

Ruth was, quite simply, synonymous with the word angel.

She is survived by her sons Vern Jr. and his wife Sandra of Paso Robles, and Lester and his wife Leah of Thousand Oaks; her daughters Terry and her husband Michael of Thousand Oaks, Sheila of Paso Robles and Dettra of Lancaster. She was blessed with 10 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and a wide circle of family and friends who will forever treasure her sense of humor, her servant’s heart, & her deep, unwavering love of God.