Editing Ruth Carter Stapleton

{{short description|Sister of Jimmy Carter}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ruth Carter Stapleton
| image              = Ruth Carter Stapleton, press conference, N.Y.jpg
| caption            = Carter in 1978
| birth_name         = Ruth Carter
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1929|8|7}}
| birth_place        = [[Plains, Georgia]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1983|9|26|1929|8|7}}
| death_place        = [[Fayetteville, North Carolina]], U.S.
| known_for          = [[Evangelism]]
| education          = [[Georgia College & State University|Georgia State College for Women]]<br>[[Methodist University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])
| spouse             = {{marriage|Robert Stapleton|1948}}
| children           = 4
| father             = [[James Earl Carter Sr.]]
| mother             = [[Lillian Gordy Carter|Bessie Gordy]]
| relatives           = [[Jimmy Carter]] (brother)<br>[[Gloria Carter Spann]] (sister)<br>[[Billy Carter]] (brother)<br>[[Jack Carter (politician)|Jack Carter]] (nephew)<br>Chip Carter (nephew)<br>Donnel Carter (nephew)<br>[[Amy Carter]] (niece)
}}
'''Ruth Carter Stapleton''' (''[[née]]'' '''Carter'''; August 7, 1929 – September 26, 1983) was an American Christian [[Evangelism|evangelist]]. She was the younger sister of United States President [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Rosalynn Carter]]’s best friend.

==Early life and family==
Ruth Carter Stapleton was born on August 7, 1929, in [[Plains, Georgia]], the third of the four children in the family of [[James Earl Carter, Sr.]] and [[Lillian Gordy Carter]].

Besides the former president, Stapleton had an older sister, [[Gloria Carter Spann|Gloria]] (1926–1990), and a younger brother, [[Billy Carter|Billy]] (1937–1988). All three of them died of [[pancreatic cancer]], as did their father.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Folkart|first=Burt A.|date=1990-03-06|title=Gloria Carter Spann, 63; Sister of Ex-President|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-06-mn-1773-story.html|access-date=2021-09-22|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Education, career, and family==
Stapleton attended [[Georgia College & State University|Georgia State College for Women]], earned her bachelor's in English from [[Methodist University]], and her master's in psychology from the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]].

Stapleton married Robert Thome Stapleton (1925–2014),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fayobserver.com/obituaries/article_4573cdad-4a2c-520a-8ea7-8e03a4d37db2.html?mode=jqm |title=Robert T. Stapleton &#124; Obituaries |publisher=fayobserver.com |access-date=2017-02-14}}</ref> a [[veterinarian]], in 1948 and they had four children: Gloria Lynn (born May 31, 1950), Sydney Scott (December 23, 1951 – December 13, 2019), Patricia Gordy (born May 29, 1954) and Robert Michael (born November 5, 1958). Stapleton suffered from chronic depression,<ref name="Dreifus">{{cite news | title=Ruth Carter Stapleton: 'I Didn't Want to Be Just a Socialite Anymore' | work=LI | date=February 11, 1979 | author=Dreifus, Claudia | page=14}}</ref> and was involved in a car accident that nearly killed her during the time immediately following her children's births.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=1983-10-10|title=Milestones: Oct. 10, 1983|language=en-US|magazine=Time|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,955249,00.html|access-date=2021-09-22|issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Saxon|first=Wolfgang|date=1983-09-27|title=RUTH CARTER STAPLETON DIES; EVANGELIST AND FAITH HEALER|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/27/obituaries/ruth-carter-stapleton-dies-evangelist-and-faith-healer.html|access-date=2021-09-22|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> She said she was later cured of depression at a "Christ-centered camp".<ref name=":0" />

In 1977, she became friends with pornographer [[Larry Flynt]] and managed to briefly convert him to Christianity. She was portrayed during this portion of Flynt's life by [[Donna Hanover]] in the film ''[[The People vs. Larry Flynt]]''.

Stapleton was also known for her involvement in the [[faith healing|faith-healing ministry]], especially in healing memories. Her books ''The Gift of Inner Healing'', ''The Experience of Inner Healing'', and ''In His Footsteps: The Healing Ministry of Jesus, Then and Now'', illustrate her beliefs about inner healing, which involved healing memories, in which one would go over one's memories and bring Jesus into the memory to help one forgive or be comforted as required by Jesus.

==Death==
Stapleton died of [[pancreatic cancer]] on September 26, 1983, aged 54.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,955249,00.html|magazine=Time|title=DIED|date=October 10, 1983|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513095947/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,955249,00.html|archive-date=May 13, 2008}}</ref> One month after her death, her mother died of [[breast cancer]], aged 85.

==Bibliography==

*{{cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Ruth Carter|title=Power Through Release|year=1968|publisher=Macalester Park Pub. Co}}
*{{cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Ruth Carter|title=In His Footsteps|year=1973|publisher=Harper & Row|isbn=0-06-067516-0|url=https://archive.org/details/inhisfootstepshe00stap}}
*{{cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Ruth Carter|title=The Gift of Inner Healing|url=https://archive.org/details/giftofinnerheali0000stap|url-access=registration|year=1976|publisher=Word Books|isbn=0-8499-0082-4}}
*{{cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Ruth Carter|title=Brother Billy|year=1978|publisher=Harper & Row|isbn=0-06-014063-1|url=https://archive.org/details/brotherbilly00stap}}
*{{cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Ruth Carter|title=The Experience of Inner Healing|year=1979|publisher=Bantam Books|isbn=978-0-553-12047-9|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0553120476}}
*{{cite book|last=Stapleton|first=Ruth Carter|title=In His Footsteps : The Healing Ministry of Jesus, Then and Now|year=1979|publisher=Harper and Row|isbn=978-0-06-067516-5|url=https://archive.org/details/inhisfootstepshe00stap}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2735 ''Georgia Encyclopedia'']
*{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/14/us/carter-s-sister-faces-cancer.html|work=The New York Times|title=Carter's Sister Faces Cancer|date=May 14, 1983|page=3{{hyphen}}7}}
*{{cite book |title=The Real Jimmy Carter |last=Hayward |first=Steven F.|author-link=Steven F. Hayward |year=2004 |publisher=[[Regnery Publishing]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lJz-yIZNE2sC&dq=Ruth+Carter+Stapleton&pg=PA92 |isbn=0-89526-090-5 }}

{{Jimmy Carter}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Ruth Carter}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:1983 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Plains, Georgia]]
[[Category:Carter family]]
[[Category:Gordy family]]
[[Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in North Carolina]]
[[Category:American evangelists]]
[[Category:Women evangelists]]
[[Category:Southern Baptists]]
[[Category:American Charismatics]]
[[Category:Baptist writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American women]]
[[Category:American faith healers]]