Ruth Naomi Beer was born in 1921 in Roanoke, Ill. A small farming town near Peoria, Ill. Her parents were William Beer and Molly Gehrig Beer, and her siblings were brother C.A., sisters Mary, Josephine, and Fannie, and brothers Bob, Lee, William and Jake.

Growing up on a farm, she had an adventurous spirit, and was quite the tomboy. As the youngest of nine, she learned to drive a tractor when she was 12, and went fishing and hunting rabbits with her father and brothers. She was quite a good shot with her rifle, as good as any of the boys. When she heard her father was going to travel in one of those newfangled airplanes, she had to go with him.

She was educated in a one room school house, taught by two of her sisters, Mary and Fannie. Her mother thought that being an educator was one of the highest professions in life and wanted all of her nine children to be teachers; four were. Ruth later confessed she never wanted to be a teacher, or get married, but God had other ideas. She would eventually admit that He had the best plan, and ended up with a very rewarding teaching career for 35+ years, and was married for 54 years.

But before all that, her adventurous spirit led her all across the United States. After high school, the farm girl from Roanoke traveled south to work in the summer camps such as Camp Gilead in Lakeland, and Rocky Bottom in South Carolina. She also traveled west on a cross-country trip with a couple that took her to Washington State and up-and-down the West Coast, one of the highlights of her life.

When it was time to get serious about a career, she headed to Goshen College in Indiana, where one of her brothers had previously attended. She next studied at Wheaton College, where she roomed with Ruth Bell, who later became Mrs. Billy Graham. After taking classes at Illinois State University, she eventually ended up at Bob Jones University, where she met her future husband Joe (Teddy) Tibbetts, who had, ironically, taken classes with future evangelist Billy Graham. Ruth and Joe both graduated from Bob Jones, Ruth at age 31 with a teaching degree.

Her first teaching job in St. Petersburg was at Florida Christian School. In her 35 year teaching career, she taught 5th grade for Pinellas County Schools at George M. Lynch, Pinellas Park, Bay Point, Child’s Park and Azalea Elementary schools, as well as 2nd grade at Azalea.

As a child, Ruth’s mother Molly was the spiritual leader of the family. Molly was a preacher’s kid, raised in the Apostolic Church, and taught a Sunday school class. That was trailblazing at the time, as the AC church did not allow women to have any positions of authority.

Ruth’s salvation came near the end of High School. She wanted to learn to play cards, and Leona Townsend, from the Baptist Church, said if she would come to church with her, she’d teach her to play cards. We don’t know if she ever learned to play cards, but she did accept Christ at a service there!

When she first moved to the St. Petersburg area, she and Joe were active members of Community Baptist Church in Gulfport, later known as Calvary Baptist. Ruth taught Sunday school, and worked in the Junior Church with the elementary age children.

That church later moved to Seminole and became Starkey Road Baptist Church. At Starkey, she attended services three times a week, enjoyed taking part in J.O.Y. (Just Over Youth) Fellowship group, taught the “Dorcas” Sunday school group for mature women, and participated in Missionary Work Day. In her 80’s, her health concerns prevented her from attending the church she so dearly loved and supported, and she missed it so very much. Perry’s reading her the church bulletin every Sunday and the Prayer Time Reminder on Wednesday’s, and Pastor Lancaster’s audio recordings and broadcasts of Church services, helped keep her in touch.

Although her health problems were challenging, and she needed round-the-clock care, her attitude became her witness. Although her body failed her, her mind remained sharp, right up until she left us. She always had a smile, a laugh, an encouraging word, a prayer for someone else; that was her testimony of the joy in her heart. She was a terrific mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, and each generation brought new joys and appreciation.

She also had a wicked sense of humor, which many of her friends said was necessary when a farmer’s daughter marries a traveling salesman!

Joe Tibbetts went to heaven in November of 2006. She often talked about seeing him again, and longed to join him in heaven. Joe’s remaining brothers, Linton and Burnard, have helped support her with the tremendous expense of the care required for her to stay in her home. They have been loving and generous and faithful, above and beyond. Their support dates back to their earliest years. In fact, right after Ruth and Joe were married in Greenville, S.C., they came home to St. Petersburg and stayed with Linton and his wife, Polly. They then headed to Jamaica and Cavman Brac for six weeks. That flight was the first to land on the new airstrip there!

The Lord has, through them and others always supplied every need. Her caregivers became family, too. She was blessed with the women that faithfully cared for her and came to love her.

Ruth was born with a lazy eye, never really had good vision, and was bedridden for several years. But she now has awakened in heaven with perfect vision, able to walk and free of pain. God is good!

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