Ruth Wynne

Ruth Cooper Wynne, 99, passed away peacefully early Sunday morning, Jan. 26, 2025, in Cape Girardeau.

She resided at Chateau Girardeau retirement care facility, where she had been in her assisted living apartment for most of the last three years, with the last three weeks spent in skilled care.

She was born Dec. 5, 1925, in Jamestown, New York, to Leonard and Lulu Cooper, both of whom preceded her in death. Ruth was raised in the Wesleyan Church. She was the granddaughter of a Wesleyan minister who led several churches in the northern New York area. Her grandfather commented in his later years that “Ruth took up the way."

After graduating from nursing school at Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, New York, she returned home to be with her family and help in any way she could as well as start her nursing career at Olean General Hospital.

Not long after, a young man moved into the house next door, a nephew of the owners. He caught the eye of this young lady, and a love-at-first-sight romance was born. Quentin K. Wynne Jr. and Ruth were married June 30, 1956, in Olean, New York. He preceded her in death in November 2021.

Ruth and Quentin moved to Memphis, Tenessee, where they spent the majority of their lives together. She continued her nursing career at Baptist Memorial Hospital and once had a chance encounter with Elvis Presley. While walking downtown after her shift, Elvis stopped his motorcycle at a stoplight and winked at the young nurse waiting to cross the street! Ruth continued her nursing career as a registered nurse at several hospitals and different areas of care. She also provided individual care for a young man who was injured in a car accident during her final years of nursing.

Ruth took a break from her career to raise the two jewels of her life, Tami and Susan, both of whom were deeply cherished by their mother. The girls were also raised in “the way of the Lord” and found their mother and father to be faithful examples in all things.

As you can imagine, Ruth and Quentin were devoted members at Calvary Church of the Nazarene in Memphis, where they remained active members until they moved to Cape Girardeau in 2017. Here, they became members at the Cape Girardeau Church of the Nazarene.

Ruth’s final years without Quentin were spent at Chateau. There, Ruth, by then almost completely blind, spent her final years content in all things and, as she would always say, “with her Lord and Savior". She didn’t watch TV, listen to the radio and wasn’t able to read, but that didn’t keep her from talking to the Lord. She was known as a fervent prayer warrior, and those she came into contact with at Chateau would often share their requests. And she would pray and pray and check back to see whether her prayers were working! They often did. She had a steady flock of visitors, including her daughters, grandsons and church members. Daily phone calls often included not only her daughters, but her sister and brother.

As Ruth’s final transition to heaven began to take place in the last weeks, it was revealed just how massive her impact of not only her 99-plus years has had, but the impact that she had on the workers at Chateau, hospice and others. There was a steady stream who came to “say goodbye” and tell how she had impacted their lives. Pretty incredible for a 97- to-99-year-old blind lady who couldn’t get out of her apartment and was just living her life “content with what she had and simply living with Jesus".

Ruth is survived by her daughters, Tami Bock of Jefferson City and Susan Meyer (Scott) of Cape Girardeau; grandchildren, Jake Meyer (Alex) of Salida, Colorado, Josh Meyer of Cape Girardeau, Justin Bock (Kelley) of Jefferson City and Jamie McElwain of Jefferson City; sister, Louanne Ames of Memphis; brother, Doug Cooper of Bristol, Tennessee; and many nieces and nephews.

She was also preceded in death by son-in-law, Bill Bock, and brother-in-law, Fred Ames.

Life well lived, good and faithful servant!

A gathering of family and friends will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, 3700 N. Germantown Parkway in Bartlett, Tennessee, with a private burial to follow.