On May 28, 2026 Ruth Alice Killough heard and obeyed the call of her Master to come Home. She was born April 14, 1926 in Maryville, Missouri, to loving parents, Kent and Marie Coulter. She graduated from Maryville High School in 1944 and then went to Kansas City General School of Nursing. Ruth relocated to Cushing, Oklahoma to start her nursing career working with Dr. Bassett. In 1950 she married Don Killough from Cushing, Oklahoma. They were married for 64 years, until he passed away in 2014.

Ruth was a loving and devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. She loved all of her family and friends dearly. She enjoyed sewing and quilting, Oklahoma and Dallas Football, playing golf, and operating health clinics in communities and at church camps. She was a faithful servant of the Lord at First Baptist Church in Prague, Oklahoma, and in prior churches throughout Oklahoma. She served in volunteer nursing capacities giving flu shots, helping serve meals and clothes closets, and multiple other capacities in her career. She relocated to Georgia in 2014 to be with family and was a member of Warren Baptist Church in Augusta, GA.

Ruth’s life was dedicated to teaching and giving herself away motivated by her love for Jesus. Her life as a career nurse included being an innovative nursing instructor. In 1965, she started the first LPN program at Mid-Del Technical Center, the 1st in the State of Oklahoma. She was inducted into the State of Oklahoma Vo-Tech Educator Hall of Fame in 2001 for her advancements in Nursing Education. She was always embarrassed to talk about her personal successes which were many, but instead elected to enjoy the success of those she had encouraged to keep pressing onward. Many of her students went on to be medical physicians, anesthesiologists, and successful RN’s. She was so proud FOR each of them.

Until the year she passed, Ruth was recognized by the Staff as their “Nursing Supervisor Emeritus” at Brandon Wilde’s Windsor House and Memory Care Unit. She loved training students in patient care, while other residents depended on Ruth to watch out for them.

She was preceded in death by her parents: Kent and Marie Coulter, her brother: Bill Coulter (Lois), her husband: Don Killough, and a son: Donnie Killough, Jr.

She is survived by a son: David Monroe Killough (Lou) of Augusta, GA, and a daughter, Janie Little of Dewey, Oklahoma; three grand-children, DeAnna Brubaker (Jeremy) of Athens, GA, Angela Belcher (Brad) of Augusta, GA, and Don McCorkle (Brooke) of Bartlesville, OK. Eight great-grandchildren: Hazel, Norah, and Luke Brubaker, Annaleigh and Clara Belcher, and Preslee, Porter and Price McCorkle, as well as many nephews and nieces.

The family would like to extend heartfelt thanks to the dedicated, love and caring staff at Brandon Wilde, and the Southeast hospice nurses, caregivers, and staff for the wonderful care that they received during this time.