Ruth Harter Crutcher

Ruth Harter Williams Crutcher, born July 10, 1934 in Danville, Kentucky, went to be with her

Lord on Friday, September 16, 2022. The funeral will be Sunday, September 18, 2022, at 3:30 P.M. in the Education Building of College Hill Presbyterian Church with Rev. Alan Cochet officiating. Visitation will be held prior to the service beginning at 2:00 P.M. Burial will follow in College Hill Cemetery.

Harter was the only child of J.D. Williams (University of Mississippi Chancellor, 1946 – 1968) and Ruth Link Williams. Love defined Harter. She loved music and taught piano for many years in Holly Springs and Oxford. She loved the Holly Springs Presbyterian Church and the College Hill Presbyterian Church in Oxford. She loved Ole Miss and its baseball team, earning the nickname “Pie Lady” because of the many pies she made for the players, until a coach informed her family that she had to stop as it could be construed as a violation of NCAA rules. She loved to talk. When our father, Bob Crutcher, complained of not being able to reach her on the phone, a friend suggested he get “call waiting.” Dad replied that with Harter, he required “Call Hoping” or “Call Praying.” When informed that one of her grandsons was slow to talk, Ed Morgan reared back his head (as he always did) and answered, “Aw don’t you worry, if he’s any kin to his grandmama, he’ll start talking.” Harter did more than talk. A German friend who used to visit Oxford in the summers once remarked, “Your mother doesn’t talk; she presents.” Harter especially loved her hometown of Oxford. When she moved here in 1946, she looked at her parents and said, “Ya’ll can move. I’m staying here.” Harter retained that spirt of not wanting to leave her Oxford until the end, and she continued presenting until the final moments of her life on earth. Harter is preceded in death by her husband, Robert Crutcher.

She is survived by her sons, Pepper Crutcher (Cindy) of Ridgeland, Mississippi, and Paul Crutcher (Nancy) of Fredericksburg, Virginia; by her grandchildren: Robert Pepper “Bo” Crutcher, III (Nicole) of Santa Clarita, California; Sarah Catherine Morrow (Michael) of Oxford; Emily Young (Robert) of Gardendale, Alabama; Robert Crutcher (Alice) of Washington, D.C.; and David Crutcher of Nashville, Tennessee; and by her great grandchildren: Camille Morrow and Charlie Morrow; Zoey Crutcher; Beau Young; and Robert M. Crutcher Jr.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to College Hill Presbyterian Church, 339 County Road 102, Oxford, MS 38655, or to Young Life Oxford, P.O. Box 2452, Oxford, MS 38655.