1981 – Pawling, New York
Ruth Stafford Peale, wife of the late noted minister, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, was born in Fonda, Iowa and is the mother of three children: Margaret Peale Everett, Dr. John Stafford Peale and Elizabeth Peale Allen. Mrs. Peale graduated from Syracuse University. Mrs. Peale is founder and publisher of Guideposts, an interfaith magazine with approximately 4,250,000 subscribers and Peale Center for Christian Living, which distributes inspirational literature to 1,000,000 people worldwide. Ruth Peale is a member of the board of directors of the American Bible Society, Interchurch Center and Institute of Religion and Health. Mrs. Peale is the first woman president of the national board of North American Missions and the first woman chairman of the Planning and Program Committee of the National Council of Churches (1966 Assembly). She has been elected national president of the Women’s Board of Domestic Missions of the Reformed Church in America, vice president of the Council of Churches of the City of New York and a trustee of Hope College, Champlain College and Syracuse University. She is also a member of Northwood’s National Women’s Board. Mrs. Peale holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Syracuse University, Doctor of Letters, Hope College and Doctor of Humanities from Milwaukee School of Engineering and from Judson College. (Deceased, 2008)
