Ruth Lynch McFarland 1922-2022 Ruth Lynch McFarland of Burke Place in Auburn went home to Glory on January 13, 2022. Mrs. McFarland, the widow of Charles Robert McFarland, was born on Dec. 22, 1922, in Pittsburgh, PA. Her parents were the late Edmund Lynch and the late Helen Sanford Lynch. Her three siblings, Edmund, Jr., Margery, and Baby Helen predeceased her. Mrs. McFarland was a 1944 graduate of Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham University) with a degree in Chemistry. Following graduation she worked for H.J. Heinz, and later for Firestone Tire researching rubber formulas to increase tread life. April 15, 1944 she married her high school sweetheart Bob when he was home on leave from his World War II service at sea in the Merchant Marines. She continued to work in Pittsburgh until the war was over. The couple moved to Tuscaloosa, AL, where he enrolled in the University of Alabama's engineering program and she became an instructor in Chemistry. Upon his graduation they moved to Schenectady, NY, where he worked for General Electric and they joined the community, beginning with church membership. While in Schenectady, their three sons and a daughter were born. The family moved to Lynchburg, VA in 1957 due to the beginning of Mr. McFarland's several decades of work in the federal government. Relocations came about every three years for the duration of his career and Mrs. McFarland handled every move with determined ease, first locating a good church in the new community, and then schools for her children. She and her husband became enthusiastic and faithful members of every church they joined through the years in AL, NY, VA, NJ, CT, SC, CA, GA, NM, and back to AL. They were especially active in the support and encouragement of missionaries they met through their coast-to-coast church affiliations. Christian servants all over the globe are mourning her passing. The consummate homemaker, Mrs. McFarland excelled at it all – from cooking to canning to sewing to serving. Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all know the literal meaning of the verse in Psalm 31 – "Her children rise up and call her blessed." The McFarlands loved to travel. They delighted in visiting the children and grandchildren and even traveled to Europe and Africa to visit their oldest son and his family at military bases and their daughter and family in missionary work. At 89, Mrs. McFarland traveled to Israel and visited holy sites – and rode a camel. The 99-year-old saint leaves a host of descendants. All were accepted by her as family, regardless of how or when they came into the family. First, her three sons, Frederick Sanford McFarland (Celeste), John Herbert McFarland (Kathryn), Thomas Robert McFarland (Sharon), and her daughter, Lois Ruth Hunter (Timothy). Next are her grandchildren. Alicia McFarland Crumley (Damon), Austina McFarland Jordan (David), Sarah Genevieve McFarland Osborn (Nathaniel), Robert McFarland (Rebecca), Megan McFarland Clippinger (James), Brian Lemmings, Christy Lemmings Norris, Avery McFarland, Samuel McFarland (Brice Hodges), Ross McFarland, Dylan Teague (Ashley), Jacie Cates (Bill), Douglas McFarland (Samantha), Melanie McFarland Spoon (Eric), Joshua Hunter (Mary Beth), Jeremiah Hunter (Kayla), Esther Hunter Campbell (Benjamin), and Daniel Hunter (Daniela). The great-grandchildren are B. Fuller Crumley, Tebow Crumley, Zachary Jordan (Whitney), Sarah Robin Jordan, Lisa Jordan, Genevieve Osborn, Seth Osborn, Benjamin Osborn, Lirael McFarland, Micah McFarland, Nevin McFarland, Harrison McFarland, Will Kearly, Ann Kearly, Ella Kate Teague, Hannah Cates, Davis Cates, Asa Cates, John Thomas "Mac" McFarland, Margaret "Maggie" McFarland, Benjamin McFarland, Alexandra "Lexi" Spoon, Samuel Spoon, Elijah Hunter, Abigail Hunter, Jackson Hunter, Titus Hunter, Anna Hunter, Stephen Campbell, Keziah "Kezzie" Campbell, Matthew Hunter and his brother or sister Hunter, due in September 2022! The family is gathering with friends to celebrate Mom/Grandma/Grandma-Great's life on Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Auburn. The day prior, they will inter her ashes with her beloved husband's at Andersonville National Cemetery outside of Americus, GA. Memorial contributions can be made to a charity, church, or missionary organization of your choice, or the Alzheimer's Association.