97-year-old Michigan church member dazzles with art

Ruth Boyer (Photo by The Spinal Column, via spinalcolumnonline.com)

The Spinal Column, a newsweekly in west Oakland County, Mich., features Ruth Boyer, a member of the Walled Lake Church of Christ:

Ruth Boyer, the “golden girl” of her weekly art class in Walled Lake, sits on the same stool she has for the past 30 years. Her paint-stained fingers grip a feather-thin paint brush as she recreates on canvass one of the sublime moments of her life from memory.
Boyer, 97, and a resident of Walled Lake for 30 years, breathes life into each painting she conceives. Many times she works on two or three pieces simultaneously. Currently she is creating a tapestry of memories from her childhood.
Her work in progress — “Memories of My Childhood on Lake Ontario” — is a depiction of her early days in upper New York state, where her family spent balmy summers on Lake Ontario.
“I had a cousin who would spend the summers there, too, and we would paint together under the poplar trees,” she said.
“When I was a little girl, I spent hours drawing and sketching. I didn’t like school and art was the only thing I could do,” she said.

Read the full story.
Glenda Woods, church secretary and wife of minister Roger Woods, shared the link and said:

Ruth Boyer is our oldest member at 97, but we also have a faithful 96-year-old here too! Ruth lives with her daughter and son-in-law, John and Judy McKissic. They are active members here, and John heads up our benevolence committee. Ruth is vibrant and very interested in the people around her.

• Feedback
  Way to go, Ruth. I still paint at 84 and thought that was old. You motivate me to continue wielding a brush. Glover Shipp, Edmond, Oklahoma

  Glover Shipp

  August, 19 2011

  I’d love to see pictures of some of her paintings!!

  Ellen Walker

  August, 20 2011

  Ruth has a zest for life. She over came a broken leg at 94. She attends Church every Sunday and is a part of a week night ladies Bible study. She was also the oldest person at our VBS this summer. When you ask her how she is doing her answer is almost always, “I am so blessed!”

  Roger Woods

  August, 25 2011

  Ruth was a dear friend of my mother. So glad to see she is doing well and that she continues her passion. Much love to such a wonderful woman.

  Tom Tyrrell

  April, 4 2013