The Celebration of Ruth Cheatham’s life, ministry, and legacy will be held Wednesday, January 15, 2020, beginning with visitation with the family at 1:00. The service will begin at 2:00. The family asks that those attending wear bright, colorful clothes to the celebration. A graveside service will be held at Noon on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at Macon Memorial Park, Macon Georgia. Memorial contributions may be made to Annie Armstrong Missions, c/o Ridgeland Heights Baptist Church or to the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home, at P.O. Box 329, Palmetta, GA 30268, with a notation of “In memory of Ruth K. Cheatham.”
This is the life story of Elna Ruth Kidd Cheatham, one of the most loving, gentle, kind-hearted and generous women God ever created. Her story begins in the little community of Friendship, near the town of Americus, in Sumter County, GA. Ruth was born at home to Mamie Irene DeLoach and William Emmett Kidd on September 27, 1923. Her family cultivated a farm and ran Kidd’s Sawmill near Plains, GA.
Upon reaching school age, Ruth’s grandmother, Ella Tison DeLoach accompanied her to register for First Grade. While completing the paperwork, Ella changed her granddaughter’s name to match her own for the school records. Thus, Elna Ruth became Ella Ruth, the name under which she completed her educational career and carried into her adult life. Ruth attended Americus High School and finished her education at Georgia Southwestern College. It was only after applying for a delayed birth certificate to complete the requirements for a passport, that she discovered her true name, which confirmed her mother’s declaration that she was named after the attending nurse at Ruth’s birth.
At the age of nine, Ruth asked Jesus Christ to be her Saviour and Lord, was baptized, and became an active member of the Friendship Baptist Church. She continued to grow in her faith as a young woman. Her unwavering faith, daily Bible reading, and consistent prayer life continue to provide inspiration to her family, her church and her community.
As a student, Ruth helped at the local soda shop in Americus but she landed her first full time job because of her long fingernails. A man entered the soda shop and asked if she could type with those long nails, which extended almost an inch beyond her fingertips. When she replied, “Yes,” the man instructed her to come for a tour of the place he worked and hired her. She began as an administrative assistant at Southern Field in Opelika, Alabama, a military training camp for Air Service pilots during World War I & II. She later transferred to Ft. Benning Army Base, working first at the German Prisoner of War camp, then as a receptionist at the base hospital in Medical Supply, and later in an administrative capacity in Planning, Training, and Ammunitions at Headquarters. When she first came to this Section, their filing system for maneuvers, orders, and other military data was overly complicated and left the officers frustrated in trying to retrieve information. She soon developed the Triplicate Filing System which made information retrievable by date, maneuvers, or officer’s name. It was accepted first by the P. T. & A. Section, then adopted by 3rd Army Corps, and finally by the United States Army. Similar versions of her filing system were soon adopted by other military branches of service. This was an incredibly efficient filing system before today’s modern advances in technology were available. The outstanding accomplishment gained her recognition and a cash reward from the United States Army. And, …Yes, you can thank her for the necessity of completing documents in triplicate for the U.S. government.
While working at Ft. Benning, she met a young Army veteran, Elbert Hutchings Cheatham, Jr., on a blind date arranged by her roommate. Betty LaDell. She bought a new outfit to wear but when she saw he looked so much like her brother, Tommy, she went upstairs and changed clothes, preferring not to “waste” the new look. However, Elbert was able to win her heart and they married on June 28, 1947 at the Friendship Methodist Church in Sumter County, GA
They began life together in Columbus, GA and she continued to work at Ft. Benning for nine more years until she learned she was expecting a child. Her greatest joy came in being a mother and later a grandmother. She used wisdom and gentle words to guide and correct her daughter, never raising her voice to accomplish an end. Ruth and Elbert were married for a happy 42 years, until Elbert’s death in December 1989. Their family included a daughter and a son, who died at birth.
Elbert and Ruth moved to Bleeker, Alabama in 1951 to raise cattle and crops. They joined the Concord Baptist Church in that small community. She, along with the pastor’s wife, Doris Price, and another neighbor and friend, Grace Koon, established the church’s first nursery program for babies and toddlers so that parents could enjoy the worship service without tending their infants and babies either on blankets spread on the floor or in the pews. Ruth has been blessed to call Doris Price and Grace Koon her life -long friends.
Little did she realize she was embarking on a ministry of teaching babies and young children about God’s love, creating a legacy that would span almost 70 years. Ruth served the church as a teacher in Sunday School, Church Training, Girls’ Auxiliary, and many other capacities at Concord Baptist, Mable White Memorial Baptist in Macon, and Ridgeland Heights Baptist in Sandersville. She began helping other churches set up their nursery and preschool children’s programs. Ruth pioneered many new and innovative methods of teaching. As her experience and reputation grew, she was asked to work with the Georgia Baptist Convention, teaching both children and teachers of children at the Norman Park Assembly and the Toccoa Camp Assembly. Her excellence and knowledge of innovative teaching methods prompted her recommendation as a children’s teacher for the Southern Baptist Convention Ridgecrest, N.C. Retreat Center. Ruth joined the Southern Baptist Convention Assist Team to travel to California, assisting newly planted churches to establish preschool programs there. She conducted classes at both the state and national levels for many years. Ruth continued teaching and assisting teachers until she was 93 years old.
Her gentleness, compassion, kindness and love leave a legacy that has influenced and effected generations of children and adults. Ruth was a devoted homemaker, talented seamstress, and meticulous tailor. She was the perfect example of the Proverbs 31 woman. Everyone who knew her, loved and adored her.
Ruth was a generous with her time and money. She faithfully tithed to her church, contributed to both national and international missions, and was devoted to sharing and spreading the gospel through the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. She contributed to the American Bible Society for over a quarter century to provide Bibles for those who had none. Ruth worked with the USO as a young single woman and continued to support the military through the years, contributing monthly the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Ruth believed the Biblical command to “Love One Another” and to honor her father & mother so that her days would be long on the earth. She was devoted to the care of her parents until their life’s end. Her compassion extended also to the care of her aunts and mother-in-law.
Ruth Cheatham entered into Heavens gates in the early morning of January 12, 2020.
Health challenges placed her in the path of many health professionals who often commented that she was one of their favorite patients. Her family wishes to thank Layne Kitchens, P.A. and Dr. Jean Sumner and their staff for the excellent and compassionate care she received through the years, which the family believes contributed to Ruth’s years of longevity. Additionally, the companionship of Mattie Wright Martin and Annie Powers Hood will long be remembered. The Staff of Pruitt Hospice has been a great blessing to both Ruth and the family.
Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and her siblings, William Jefferson Kidd, Thomas Emmett Kidd, and twins, James Prather Kidd & Janie Betty Sue Kidd.
Those who will cherish the memory of special moments with Ruth include a daughter, Glenda Ruth Cheatham Johnson, and husband, Joe and a grandson, Theo Joseph Yonah Johnson, all of Riddleville, GA; a granddaughter, Lacey Victoria JoLynn Johnson Wilkinson, and husband Kyle, and much awaited great grandson, Kole Theodore Aaron Wilkinson of Sandersville; chosen grandchildren, Amie Lowery Rabun and husband, Chad; Charles Whitehead, Brick Nelson, and Collin McElheney; a goddaughter, Pamela Cheatham Wood and husband Michael of Rogue River, Oregon; brother-in-law, Freddie Pelt and wife, Sharon of Macon, GA; the following nieces and a nephew, Laurale Kidd Vaughn and Jefferson Lindell Kidd, both of FL, Merry Kidd Trahan of GA, Debra Kidd Mahler of TN, Renee Kidd Arthur of S.C., as well as several grand and great grandnieces and nephews, special friends, Jeff and Wendy Pettit, their daughters, Jordan, Abbey, and Mia; Norma and Jimmy Brown, Lisa Kelly, Roy Kirkland, Doris Griffith and many others.