Mary Ruth Heiligenthal

Mary Ruth (née Weaver) Heiligenthal passed into the Arms of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on May 25, 2026. Born November 23, 1948, in Knoxville, Tennessee, she lived and worked in Chicago, Illinois; Long Beach and Los Angeles, California; Des Moines, Iowa, and Yuma, Arizona. Retired from Arizona Western College as an Administrative Secretary, she worked with the Senior Winter Visitors Program setting up classes for seniors.

Active in committees at church, school, and work, she taught all levels of Sunday School, was Vacation Bible School Director, and Bed Babies through Kindergarten Sunday School Director. She was also an AWANA Leader, and Mission Friends Instructor, and performed as a clown at church, work, schools, and local parades.

She also taught Kindergarten at two Christian schools in Yuma and helped produce Sunday’s television broadcast and various other programs at First Southern Baptist Church.

A published author, she wrote, The Forgotten Trolley, by Mary Ruth Weaver, a tribute to her husband’s love of trolleys along with Back on Track: Sequel to the Forgotten Trolley. She also wrote and published Carly's Angels,

Vikki Moves to New Ipswich, House on the Hill With the Clock in the Middle and Showering with Lizards: Poems and Prose of the Desert Southwest.

She is survived by her daughter, Vikki Gorman and son-in-law Larry Gorman, their incredible sons Finn Gorman of Phoenix, Arizona; and Ryan and his wife Callie Gorman all of Sanford, North Carolina; her son, John Thomas Heiligenthal and daughter-in-law Erika Slayton Heiligenthal and their two beautiful daughters, Gracie Mae Heiligenthal, and Mattie Rose Heiligenthal, and their incredible sons, Derrik Andrew Naegelin and Jakob Edward Naegelin. She will smile down upon them from Heaven and watch over them with care.

Sister, Diana Huddleston (Donald-deceased) of Tyler, Texas; sister, Lori Hawbaker and brother-in-law Donald Hawbaker of Dallas Center, Iowa; brother Kenneth Marshall Weaver (Janis-deceased) of Fenton, Missouri; brother Richard Eugene Weaver of Tucson, Arizona; many nephews, nieces, great-nephews, and great-nieces, and great-great nieces. She is pre-deceased by her father, Houston Marshall Weaver, and mother, Catherine Helene Maury (née Anna Catherine Pellegrino), and sister, Barbara Ann Pfannenstiel (née Weaver) and her dear husband Gary Heiligenthal who passed in March 2025.

With all the tears and laughter, the fun times during reunions, and even the occasional family feuds, she was blessed to be a part of this wonderful family. Pick up the pennies she throws down from Heaven and say a prayer for someone when you do.

The funeral will be held at Johnson Mortuary on June 8, 2026, at 9:00AM, and she will be interred at Desert Lawn Memorial Park, Yuma, Arizona.