RUCH, Dr. Velma N.
RUCH
Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 1/25/2016 at 23:57:47
BIOGRAPHY ~ DR. VELMA N. RUCH
Graceland University, Lamoni, IowaVelma N. Ruch was born in Lamoni, Iowa, on February 28, 1921.
Velma Ruch can truly be called a life-long Gracelander, since her parents were both entrolled as students at the college when she was born. Velma spend most of her youth in Norway, where her parents were RLDS missionaries. She returned to Graceland as a student in 1939, deciding as a freshman that she wanted to return to the college as a facutly member. Velma graduated from Graceland in 1941, receiving the Gold Seal for scholarship.
She completed her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa in 1943, then taught high school for two years at Glidden, Iowa, and for one year at Abraham Lincoln High School at Council Bluffs, Iowa. She visited Graceland in 1945 as the first woman speaker at the annual Religious Emphasis Week. At the invitation of Acting President A. R. Gilbert, Velma joined Graceland's English faculty in 1946. She completed her master's degree in 1947 at the University of Michigan and her doctorate at the University of Wisconsin (majoring in English and minoring in Scandinavian studies) in 1957.
Velma became the first woman on Graneland's faculty to hold a Ph.D., and later chaired the Language and Literature Division from its creation in 1965 until 1984. Velma was involved in the work that led toward Graceland's emergence as a four-year school and was instrumental in beginning the majors in international studies and English.
On July 1, 1974, Velma became Graceland's first woman leader when she stepped in as acting college president for one year. On May 25, 1975, Velma joined Bruce Graybill in becoming the first Graceland faculty members to be awarded the title of distinguished professor. She later co-created Graceland's F. Henry Edwards Chair in Religious Studies, which began in 1978.
As Velma neared the end of her accomplished Graceland career, she joined Barbara Higdon in being the first women ordained to the RLDS priesthood on campus during a ceremony held in The Shaw Center on February 23, 1986. Velma retired in 1986 as Graceland's first distinguished professor emerita, emerging as the second person to be a member of the college's faculty for 40 years and the only woman to reach that mark.
Velma returned to the classroom once more in the spring of 1988 to teach he popular Religion in the World's Great Literature course.
On November 15, 1987, Velma became the second woman to be ordained asn evangelist in the RLDS Church and chose to devote her post-Graceland years to church work in Norway and the United States.
[Velma moved into an Assisted Living facility at Crown Colony, Lamoni, Iowa. (2014)]
SOURCES:
Edwards, Paul M. "The Hilltop Where . . . An Informal History of Graceland College." p. 138. Venture Foundation. Lamoni IA. 1972.
Goehner, David. "The Graceland College Book of Knowledge: From A To Z." Pp. 434-35. Herald House. Independence MO. 1997.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2016
Decatur Biographies maintained by Constance McDaniel Hall.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen