Ruth Raisch Lashbrook Mitchell
January 3, 1917- February 14, 2018
Ruth was the third of seven children born to Clarence and Goldie Raisch in rural Belfast, Ohio. Ezra, David, John, and Esther preceded her in death. She is survived by Martha and Eva. A child of the Depression, Ruth believed wholeheartedly in “waste not, want not.” She was very creative at recycling and repurposing long before the words even came into being. She knew much about plants, grew many from “starts,” and knew which ones had usefulness beyond beauty. Her longevity might be attributed to her passion for eating only foods that were “good for her.” Her children teased her about eating raw turnips for breakfast!
Her farmer/pastor father was headmaster of a school for the children of his congregation. Ruth made friends with and helped the new teacher, Jack Lashbrook. She had known him and his best friend Roland Mitchell from their college evangelism outreach services at her father’s church. A romance between her and Jack blossomed and they were married in 1939. The Lashbrooks had four sons: Paul (Bonnie), who died in 2015; James (Lena), John, and Roger(Nancy) who are still living. Jack became a pastor in the Pilgrim Holiness Church and they served together in Wisconsin, Indiana, Canada, the British West Indies, and Barbados. When Ruth and Jack came to the US for a furlough in 1960, they decided to live in Wilmore in order to be near their son, Paul, who was a student at Asbury College. Jack had planned to earn another degree at UK, but died of a heart attack only two months into their residency in Wilmore. Ruth was alone with her four sons and had no way to earn a living, so with a scholarship from one of Jack’s relatives, she began as the oldest freshman in the Asbury Class of 1964. She not only earned her teaching certificate but graduated as valedictorian of her class.
Ruth was immediately hired to teach English part-time at Asbury while she continued her education at UK earning a Master’s Degree in Literature. With her Masters in hand, she was promoted to full-time at Asbury. She retired from Asbury in 1982 when she married Jack’s college friend, Roland Mitchell, who was then also widowed. JR, as he was also known, had four adult children: Ruth (Norman), Phil (Mildred), Jerry (Jeannie), and Vangie (Tom) to whom Ruth became a loving stepmother. JR was an evangelist who traveled a great deal. Ruth accompanied him on his travels to churches and camp meetings in his Airstream. As their traveling days came to a close, JR became the interim pastor of the Stonewall Wesleyan Church in Lexington. In 2003, Ruth was again widowed when JR died on Independence Day.
Ruth remained a vital part of her neighborhood where she still lived in the house that she and Jack had rented when they had come home on furlough. Through the years, she had paid for it by turning her rent checks into mortgage payments.
Those who knew Ruth counted on her to pray for them. She prayed about absolutely everything. She memorized scripture and hymns. To know her was to know that she loved her Lord more than anything or anyone else. Her life’s desire was that everyone could know her Jesus. God blessed her with remarkable intelligence and she was able to stay sharp until the end of her life on earth. She took care of her own business by telephone, remained an informed voter through the last election, and stayed abreast of community and world affairs well into her hundredth year.
On Valentine’s Day, her physical heart stopped and her spiritual heart soared to meet her precious Jesus.
Since Ruth was a missionary herself and gave generously to missions, memorial gifts may be sent in her name to the Mission Fund at Wilmore Free Methodist Church, 1200 N. Lexington Road, Wilmore, KY 40390.
