Ruth MacBride

To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.

Obituary

Ruth Jean Parkerson MacBride, 94, of Charlotte, NC, went to be with her Heavenly Father on Wednesday, November 26, 2025. She was born in Pinckneyville, Illinois on June 22, 1931, the daughter of the late Harlan and Vivian Stanley Parkerson. She grew up in LaPorte, Indiana, the second of five children (James, Marie, Paul, and Patricia), in a small country house without running water. As a small girl, Ruth attended a one-room schoolhouse with her older brother Jimmy. Highly intelligent and an avid reader, Ruth was eventually moved ahead two grades, graduating from LaPorte High School in 1947.

At age 16, Ruth enrolled at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where she put herself through college (after her father refused to support her financially, noting that women should not pursue a college degree). Ruth graduated college in 1950 at age 19 with a Bachelor of Arts in Early Elementary Education, then obtained her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education, also from Ball State. Over 60 years later, when asked by her granddaughter why she decided to become a teacher, she responded that in the mid-1940s, women could only study nursing or teaching in college, and since she never liked the sight of blood, she went with teaching! After her mother had a debilitating stroke, Ruth moved back to LaPorte and helped raise her younger siblings Paul and Patty, supporting the family as a school teacher. Ruth later recounted that when she applied for a car loan, Indiana law required her to bring her father along to the bank to co-sign the loan, even though she was financially supporting her dad and her siblings at the time; decades later she still relayed her anger at state laws (common at that time) which set out a double standard for men and women.

In the late-1950s, Ruth moved east to take a teaching position in Great Neck, NY, and to begin doctoral studies at Columbia University. She met the love of her life Archibald Harvey MacBride at a young adult retreat in upstate New York. They fell in love and were married at First Baptist Church in New York City on August 16, 1958. The young couple soon moved to western New York where Ruth joined the teaching faculty at SUNY Geneseo. They joyfully welcomed their first child, Bruce Harvey MacBride, on November 9, 1960. On August 16, 1961 -- their third wedding anniversary -- Ruth and Harvey were in a tragic car accident in Ohio which badly injured them and baby Bruce. While Ruth and Harvey survived, Bruce passed away just shy of his first birthday.

On June 2, 1962, the couple welcomed their daughter Jean Janet MacBride, and on October 14, 1965, their second son, Neil Harvey MacBride was born. Ruth and Harvey raised their children in Oneonta, NY. Ruth recalled these were among the happiest years of her life where she was a college professor at SUNY Oneonta during the school year and spent her summers tending her garden, building stone walls, taking her kids swimming at the local state park, picking wild blueberries, teaching Vacation Bible School, visiting her sisters in Maryland and Ohio, and enjoying family vacations on the New Jersey shore. Ruth spent the final years of her career teaching at King's College in Briarcliff Manor, NY.

In their retirement years, Ruth and Harvey first lived in Loudonville, NY for 15 years before relocating to Charlotte, NC. Ruth and Harvey enjoyed spending winters in Florida; occasional trips to Europe with Jean and her family; ocean cruises with Ruth’s younger sister Pat Sanders and her husband George; and Ruth especially loved spending time with her eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren: playing Rummikub, teaching them Sudoku, watching their sporting events, and enjoying family meals together.

Ruth was an active, long-time member of several churches, including First Baptist Church (New York, NY), First Presbyterian Church (Schenectady, NY), Mainstreet Baptist Church (Oneonta, NY), Loudonville Community Church (Loudonville, NY), and Calvary Church (Charlotte, NC). She spent many years leading a church ministry for young mothers, “MOPS” (Mothers of Preschoolers), where she convened weekly meetings combining bible study with practical teaching about young children. Throughout the joys and tragedies of her life, Ruth always drew comfort from her strong, life-long faith, often reminding her family: “God is good.”

Ruth was preceded in death by her baby boy Bruce in 1961 and her beloved husband Harvey on May 8, 2016; her brother Jimmy Parkerson, sister Marie Detweiller, and brother Paul Parkerson. Ruth is survived by her younger sister Pat Sanders, her daughter Jean MacBride Rupprecht and her husband Erich of Charlotte, NC, and her son Neil and his wife Christina Jackson MacBride of Falls Church, VA. Ruth is also survived by her eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren: Nathaniel Rupprecht, his wife Rachel, and their children Simon, Miriam and Eliana of Coral Gables, FL; Katia Turner and her husband Andrew, and their son Cooper, of Charlotte, NC; Jonathan Rupprecht of Charlotte NC; Caroline Rupprecht of Charlotte NC; and Liam Rupprecht and his wife Charis, of Charlotte NC; as well as Duncan MacBride of Brooklyn, NY, Charlotte MacBride of London, England, and Alistair MacBride of Falls Church, Virginia.

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