For many years, this photo of this lovely lady was around our church but no one knew who it was. The church staff thought it looked like the quintessential church lady from another era. With the diligent work of our Heritage Committee, it was discovered that the photo was of Ruth May Gibb.
Ruth May Gibb was the “mother” of our church’s scholarship fund. She lived on Cantrell Road not too far from our church and was a long-time church member who valued education and set out her values in her will and trust in order to help others.
She moved to Little Rock from Gurdon at a young age with her parents, Dr. and Mrs. W.S. May. She was a graduate of Central High School and Henderson-Brown College. She graduated from Arkansas Law School at a time when very few women graduated from law school. She was the widow of the Mayor of Little Rock, Sam Wassell, and later the wife of E.W. (Bud) Gibb. At our church she was involved with Women of the Church, now called Presbyterian Women.
Before she died in 1964, she implemented her love of our church and her values by including our church as a bequest in her will in the amount of $640,000 “to be designated as scholarships for any student the church determines to assist”. Her thoughtful gift and benevolent vision to our church has changed the lives of many young adults by helping them to receive a college education. For example, just since 2000, the Ruth May Gibb Scholarship Fund has impacted over 100 students by providing tuition assistance to college and Presbyterian Seminaries.