Ruth Ellen Fagal

Ruth Ellen Fagal peacefully passed to her rest in the Lord on November 4, 2025 in Loma Linda, California. She was 101.

Ruth was born on July 27, 1924 near Boston, the only child of Alexander and Esther Smith. She was a chemistry major and physics minor at Atlantic Union College—not a typical pathway for a woman in the 1940s. She met Harold Fagal at AUC, and they married on October 15, 1945 in Boston.

Over the next 18 years, Ruth epitomized grace as the wife of a pastor in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ohio, Maryland, and Florida. She also became a master teacher. When Harold became a professor at La Sierra College in 1964, Ruth joined the science department at Norte Vista High School in Riverside. She taught there for 24 years, much of the time as department chair, before retiring in 1988. She earned a Ph.D.in curriculum evaluation at the University of California, Riverside, was a mentor teacher, and was active in helping elementary teachers learn how to make science come alive for young students.

Ruth and Harold loved spending time with their daughters, Carolyn Saliba and Marilyn Thomsen, and four grandchildren--Christie and Mark Cales, and Stephen and Julianne Thomsen. They found second careers volunteering with La Sierra University Church, with Community Services becoming a major focus. Ruth was its director for 25 years. She loved organizing the work of volunteers so they could serve those in need, and she made regular trips to the local food bank to get as much as possible to give to families facing hunger. She never got tired of doing good.

Ruth and Harold traveled the world, visiting six continents. Summers found them in Royalston, Massachusetts, in an 1872 farmhouse Ruth’s grandparents bought shortly before she was born. Ruth joined the nearby Ladies Benevolent Society and the Fitzwilliam Garden Club, and they entertained graciously and regularly.

After Harold’s passing in 2010, Ruth became active in a ladies Bible study group and was part of the “Second Row Gang” at La Sierra University music events. She was a member of the La Sierra University Church board and remained active in Community Services until her late 90s.

People often said Ruth was stately, elegant and gracious. She was also down to earth, generous, and wise. She is deeply missed, but her legacy of kindness and service live on in the hearts of everyone who knew and loved her.