Ruth Menchaca Sanchez, wife of Texas Baptist pastor and Hispanic Baptist leader Rudy Sanchez, died Feb. 18 in Dallas. She was 81. She was born March 19, 1937, to Pastor Nicanor Menchaca and Guadalupe Saldaña-Menchaca in Yoakum. She became an accomplished musician as both a pianist and vocalist. She served alongside her husband, Rudy, in his 47-year ministry as a pastor at Primera Iglesia Bautista in Fort Worth, Primera Iglesia Bautista in Corpus Christi, Trinity Baptist Church in Houston and Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana in Dallas. She worked as an executive assistant and executive secretary in public schools, Tarrant County Junior College and Educational Service Centers of Texas. She taught kindergarten classes in churches more than 50 years and led training conferences for preschool teachers sponsored both by the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas. She and her husband were charter members of North Dallas Family Church in Carrollton, where she was a deaconess, choir member, preschool ministry director for 13 years and leader of the congregation’s beautification ministry. She was preceded in death by her husband in 2009. She is survived by daughters Rhoda Gonzales and her husband Vincent, and Becky Lane and her husband Chris; sons Regem Saul and Reuel Scott Sanchez; Herman Splatt and Lidia Splatt; and four grandchildren.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Corrections were made to this article after it originally was posted.
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