Ruth Willis, tireless missionary, entrepreneur, and church activist, has died at 100

Ruth Ellen Holman Willis, 100, of Philadelphia, a tireless missionary, revered business owner, and longtime church activist at North Penn Baptist Church, died Thursday, Aug. 25, of heart failure at Lankenau Medical Center.

Mrs. Willis joined the congregation at North Penn Baptist in 1943 and served for nearly 70 years as president, vice-president, corresponding secretary, chaplain, and spiritual adviser for its Elizabeth Missionary Society Ministries. In those roles, she promoted the church’s religious outreach across the United States and in Africa and Haiti through teaching, fund-raising, and missions to establish churches, community centers, and schools.

“Mom understood her call to ministry and that it involved love and service,” her family said in a tribute. “Her philosophy is one of deep respect and humility to humankind.”

Mrs. Willis was also active with other Baptist organizations, including the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and was a member of the building fund committee and flower club at North Penn Baptist. She reached out to individuals around her as well and influenced many of them, including her three daughters, to carry on her missionary work.

“Her family, community and neighborhood were her focus,” said her daughter, Deborah Willis Thomas. “She was a critical thinker, constant mentor, and counselor. She believed in positive thought and made the best of things.”

Naturally stylish and personable, Mrs. Willis graduated from the Apex School of Beauty Culture in 1958 and opened Ruth’s Beauty Shop in her home in North Philadelphia. She had been interested in fashion and hair styling as a young woman and, due largely to her community footprint and popularity, her home became a gathering place for women and girls of all ages.

In addition to remaking the women’s appearances, Mrs. Willis often “reimagined their lives,” her daughter said.

“She made a safe space for counsel and joy,” said Thomas, who enjoyed all the commotion and camaraderie she experienced there as a child. “Women were able to express their joy and pain. She gave encouragement and helped the women believe in themselves.”

Simultaneously, Mrs. Willis operated the Willis Grocery Store at 26th and West Sergeant Streets. She ran the store during the week, scheduled beauty clients at night and on weekends, and hired a few assistants to help her with the store when things got busy.

And all that was in addition to her nearly full-time church activity. With such a presence in her North Penn Village community, she was recognized “as a woman of great strength, a warming presence who was not only big in her faith but who was also big in her capacity to love,” her family said.

Born Feb. 15, 1922, in Philadelphia, Ruth Holman was the oldest of 14 children in a family that was instrumental in the founding of Mount Sinai Tabernacle Baptist Church on West Lehigh Avenue. She graduated from Simon Gratz High School and met Thomas Willis, who sang with the choir at Mount Sinai.

They married in 1943, lived in Philadelphia, and had daughters Deborah, Leslie, and Yvonne. Her husband died in 1990, and Yvonne died in 2019. During World War II, Mrs. Willis made pockets and ties for military uniforms for the Army Quartermaster Corps in Philadelphia while her husband was in the service.

Even after he died, she wore her wedding ring for the rest of her life. “Their bond remained,” Thomas said.

“She inspired and impacted the lives of so many through her commitment and loyalty to her church, family, friends, and world missions,” her family said.

In an online tribute, a friend said: “The unwavering faith and love you exhibited always are embodied in your beautiful children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, other family members, and the people honored to be in your presence — to say nothing about your exquisite style.”

In addition to her daughters, Mrs. Willis is survived by five grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and other relatives. Eight brothers and five sisters died earlier.

Services were Sept. 7.