Sumter County GaArchives Obituaries.....Ruth Carter Stapleton  September 26 1983
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm
************************************************


File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Brenda King McNair McNair1978@msn.com June 9, 2003, 11:06 am

Americus Times - Recorder Tuesday, September 27, 1983, Americus, Sumter Co., GA 

Of sister Ruth

Former Pres. Carter to attend funeral

Fayetteville, N. C. (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter will attend the 
funeral of his sister, Ruth Carter Stapleton, who died of pancreatic cancer, 
after refusing conventional treatment, a spokesman said.

Mrs. Stapleton, 54, died Monday morning at her Fayetteville home.  Carter 
spokesman Dan Lee said the former president would go to the graveside service, 
which a spokeswoman for Rogers & Breece Funeral Home said was scheduled for 2 
P. M. Wednesday at Lafayette Memorial Park.

Carter visited his evangelist sister during a May family reunion in 
Fayetteville and returned without publicity within the past two weeks.

Duke University Medical Center doctors diagnosed Mrs. Stapleton in April as 
having terminal cancer.  Her son, Duke ophthalmologist Scott Carpenter 
Stapleton urged her to undergo orthodox treatment.  But she refused, relying 
instead in exercise, diet and faith.

"My whole life has been geared to this kind of thing," Mrs. Stapleton said in 
May.  "I worked 20 years in healing, and I have seen so many miracles....If I 
am going for broke, I want to have a single mind.  I want to put all my faith 
in God."

The Rev. Billy Graham, in a statement issued from his Montreat home, said, Mrs. 
Stapleton, "was often misunderstood, but she was a devoted and loyal follower 
and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.  She was filled with zeal and love."

Mrs. Stapleton's father, William Earl Carter, died of pancreatic cancer in 
1953.  Her mother, Lillian Carter, is in total remission from breast and bone 
cancer.

In July, Mrs. Stapleton was treated by Dr. Lawrence Burton at the Immunology 
Research Center in the Bahamas.  A spokesman for Carter said then that Mrs. 
Stapleton received daily injections of blood serum and ate a macrobiotic 
vegetarian diet to try to strengthen her immune system.

Mrs. Stapleton married in 1948, graduated with a degree in English from 
Methodist College in Fayetteville in the 1960's and received a masters from the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In 1976 she authored a book, "The Gift of Inner Healing." in which she 
described inner healing as a slow process of emotional reconstruction under 
guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Her philosophy dealt with emotions and tried to 
instill an attitude of forgiveness for childhood wrongs.

In 1977 Mrs. Stapleton drew national attention when Larry Flynt, publisher of 
Hustler magazine, said she helped him convert to Christianity.

In 1978 she wrote a book about her brother, Billy Carter, titled "Brother 
Billy."

Also in 1978, Mrs. Stapleton established headquarters for her ministry on a 29-
acre North Texas ranch.  She sold the ranch in July to Dallas-based 
Discipleship Counseling Services Inc., a Baptist group for $700,000.

Survivors include her husband, Dr. Robert Stapleton; two daughters, Lynn 
Nimocks of Fayetteville and Patti Stapleton of Fayetteville; two sons, Scott 
Carpenter Stapleton of Durham and Michael Stapleton of Fayetteville; and a 
sister, Gloria Spann of Plains, Ga.

Source: Americus Times-Recorder Tuesday, September 27, 1983.

Additional Comments:
Ruth Carter was married to Robert T. Stapleton in 1948, son of Sidney Franklin 
Stapleton and Eva Nouse.

This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/

File size: 3.8 Kb