White Funeral Home
1315 Main Street
Jesup, Iowa 50648

JESUP - Rev. Ruth Ann Melick, 84 years old, of Independence, IA, and formerly of Jesup, IA, died Friday, July 11, 2025, at the Buchanan County Health Center in Independence.

Memorial Services will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, September 13, 2025 at the First United Methodist Church, with burial in the Old Barclay Cemetery, rural Jesup.

Memorial Visitation will be from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m., Friday, September 12th at White Funeral Home, Jesup, and will continue for an hour before services, Saturday.

Ruth Ann May was born on March 1, 1941, in Waterloo, IA, the daughter of Warren Merle May and Christine Alice (Stewart) May. She graduated from Jesup High School with the class of 1959 and went on to attend the Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, IA, (now the University of Northern Iowa) and graduated with a degree in elementary education and minor in art. Ruth worked as a special education teacher in Iowa and was married to James Russell on July 11, 1964. They moved to the east coast. When she became a mother to Julie and Brian she took time off from teaching in the classroom.

Ruth and James co-owned a stained-glass business called Russell Glass Studio in Frederick, MD. The couple would later divorce in 1980. Ruth followed her desire to study theology at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. and became a minister in 1982. Ruth first served at Dorsey Emmanuel UMC in Dorsey, MD, then Roland Ave-Evergreen UMC in Baltimore, MD, and Eldbrooke UMC in Washington DC, before she moved back to Iowa and married her high school sweetheart, Keith Melick on December 24, 1993. She served Hudson UMC, Simpson UMC (the “Iowa fairgrounds perennial hosts”) in Des Moines, and Bedford UMC. She retired in 2001, but continued to serve half time and interim charges in Jesup, Evansdale, LaPorte City, Oran, Greeley, and traveled as Nomads in mission with the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to California, New Mexico, Illinois, and Louisiana.

Her style was to amplify Christ’s message of compassion and inclusion whether that was in her church, advocating for those affected by the AIDS crisis in the 80’s, or the LGBTQ+ pastors within the United Methodist Church. Her work for the churches she served built them up from the inside with her ability to “sit down at the table“ and work out solutions to the problems they faced, all while being the spiritual leader they needed— sometimes the one they didn’t know they needed— because her voice was unapologetically her own, and she stood bravely for those that had the least in our society.

Ruth is survived by her husband, Keith Melick of Independence; one daughter, Julie (David) Russell-Steuart of Reinbeck, IA; one son, Brian (Pamela Wright) Russell of Essex, MD; two grandchildren, Venus Steuart and Darwin Russell; one sister, Grace Kullmer of Jesup; three brothers, William (Mary) May, Robert (Randi) May, and Stewart (Carma) May, all of Jesup. She is also survived by her step-children, Dawn Zimmer and Chris Melick, both of Phoenix, AZ; two step-grandchildren, Drew Zimmer and Nate Zimmer; and one step-great granddaughter, Phoebe.

Ruth is preceded in death by her parents, one daughter-in-law, Sandy Russell; and a step-great granddaughter, Lola.

Memorials will be directed to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), which is a humanitarian organization that helps alleviate human suffering.

Online condolences may be posted at www.White-MtHope.com

White Funeral Home, Jesup, is in charge of arrangements.