Ruth Lenora (Ferguson) Harrington

Ruth Lenora (Ferguson) Harrington passed away peacefully at home on November 23, 2025.

Ruth was born to George and Lenora Ferguson on March 6, 1937, at the family wheat farm in the Oklahoma panhandle. Born during a Dust Bowl “black blizzard”, she was the seventh of nine children.

Ruth attended Sandy Hook school in Cimarron County until she entered high school, where she graduated from Yarbrough school in 1955. The only girl in her graduating class of seven, she played on the girls’ basketball team, starred in the school play, and played F-horn in the school band.

When Ruth was fifteen, JB Harrington moved to Elkhart to preach for the Church of Christ, and a certain pretty Ferguson girl caught his eye. They began dating two years later, and after seven months, they were married in December 1954.

Their first child, Lisa, was born in October 1955. Shortly after that, they moved to Loveland, Colorado, where they added three sons to the family - Boyd, Alan and Dale. In 1962, the family moved to Farmington, NM. Their fifth child, Elyn, was born there in October 1964.

In 1971, the family moved from Farmington to Big Spring, TX, and in 1974, they moved from Big Spring to Albany, TX. In 1975, they moved to Los Alamos, NM, where they lived for the next 17 years. While living in Los Alamos, Ruth ran a small in-home daycare and took care of her mother, Lenora Ferguson, for several years until her passing in 1990.

After her mother passed, Ruth and JB moved from Los Alamos to Payson, AZ, in the early 90s. While living in Payson, Ruth took care of her mother-in-law, Ida Harrington, until she passed in 1999.

In 2001, Ruth and JB moved from Payson back to Farmington, NM, where they lived until JB passed away in 2021. The last few years of her life were spent living with her daughter and son-in-law (Lisa and Les) on a farm near Dolores, CO, where she enjoyed watching the deer play in the yard and looked forward to the apples and flowers growing in the summer. She also loved attending church and singing hymns.

Throughout her life, Ruth’s talents as a homemaker blessed her family and community everywhere she went. She was a skilled seamstress and made lovely outfits for herself and her children. She loved to garden and transformed every rocky, desert backyard she had into an oasis of vegetables, fruit, and roses. Her hospitality and cooking were legendary. When she was twelve, she took over the cooking for the family and the harvest crews and her skills grew from there. She loved having guests at mealtimes - expected or not - and especially enjoyed hosting a beautiful open house each year during the holidays, with tables full of her homemade delights. Homemade bread was her specialty, as well as a wide variety of cookies, pies, and other goodies. Her chicken with homemade egg noodles was expected at every church potluck.

Ruth was a beautiful example of a servant of Christ throughout her life. She loved her role as a preacher’s wife, and she often mentored women in their Christian walk, comforting others when their life was hard and celebrating with them in times of joy. She taught many ladies and children’s classes and was a keynote speaker at many Christian Ladies’ Retreats. She was truly a joyful follower of Jesus, and she strongly encouraged others to follow him and to seek that joy, which can only be found in knowing we have an eternal home with Him. She looked past the trials of this life to her reward in heaven.

She loved children and relished her role as Nana to 14 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

Ruth is survived by her daughter Lisa (Les) Brown, sons Boyd (Kim) Harrington, Alan (Linda) Harrington, and Dale Harrington, and her daughter Elyn (Rob) Nollan, 12 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, J B Harrington, her parents, 4 brothers and 4 sisters, her granddaughter, Kimberly Brown, and her grandson, Joshua Harrington.

There will be a graveside service at Elkhart Cemetery,  Elkhart, Kansas, on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 11:00 am. A memorial service will be held at a later date.