Telling Her Story Beyond the Classroom

John Wallace and Dr. Teresa Wallace (UC Professor) established the Anna Ruth Wallace Endowed Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor the memory of one who spent her life educating others. Knowing that "Ruth" had continuously poured into others, they felt this would be the most meaningful way for her legacy to live on for years to come and provide a way to help students like her who may have found no other way to accomplish their dreams of quality education. Earnings from the fund can provide approximately $1,000 in scholarship awards to needy and deserving Cumberlands students. Now, Ruth's legacy will live in perpetuity.

Anna Ruth Wallace, ’63, was born in Quinton, Kentucky, a small community in a neighboring county to Williamsburg. Her parents were educators, so naturally, she was encouraged to earn her degree. Ruth enrolled in Cumberland College at a young age and graduated in 1963 with a degree in elementary education. Miss Wallace spent 40 years educating elementary students, first in Ohio for a few years, and returned to her home and enjoyed her career with the Pulaski County School System. She never wanted to leave the classroom because she loved what she was doing—working with children. One could say Ruth considered the students she taught to be "her" children, as she never married and had no children of her own. After retiring, she worked with her church and enjoyed reading, knitting, and the company of friends and relatives.

The Wallaces plan to continue contributing to this impactful fund each year by making their gift at Cumberlands’s annual Give Day event, held on the first Tuesday of each November.