Minnie Alice Holladay Ruff

Mrs. Ruff died Sunday, May 18, 2003.

She was born Oct. 22, 1927, in Joplin, Mo., the daughter of Meredith Walker and Reba Marie Pickens. She and her family followed the harvest from Texas to Nebraska.

Mrs. Ruff was a member of Cherokee Nation. She and her husband moved from Kansas to Dallas to start Ruff House Ministries, which has 10 houses on 5 acres of land with 100 members. She received awards including Valley Forge Freedom Award, Points of Light Award, Good Hands Award, Savvy Award, Good Samaritan Award, Dallas Peace Center Award and World Visionary Award. She was also recognized by Volunteers of America and the National Inquiry.

She married Gilbert Russell Holladay on Nov. 22, 1946, in Lawrence, Kan. They later divorced. She married George “Papa” Ruff on July 28, 1967, in Lawrence. He died in 2000.

Survivors include five daughters, Reba Mounts and Michelle Ruff, both of Dallas; Chris Zander, Grass Valley, Calif., Donna Saylor, Singapore, and Carolyn Johnson, Woodlawn, Ark.; four sons, Vincent Ruff and Terry Ruff, Dallas, Kenneth Holladay, Eudora, Kan., and Dean Holladay, Lawrence; 26 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren.

The family suggests memorials to Ruff House Ministries, P.O. Box 426, Hutchins, Texas 75141.