“I always felt fortunate to be able to use the abilities the Lord has given me.” — Ruth Kroon
Before the start of Autumn Quarter, the family of alumna and longtime missionary Ruth Kroon and Seattle Pacific University community members gathered to celebrate the dedication and renaming of the Alexander and Adelaide Hall chapel. The event celebrated the Kroon family’s contribution to the refurbishment of the building and the dedication of the newly named “Ruth Ellen Kroon Chapel.”
Ruth was born in 1919 in Malta, Montana, as the youngest of seven children. After watching her mother’s career in midwifery, Ruth was inspired to become a nurse. She graduated with a degree in pre-nursing in 1941 from Seattle Pacific and trained as a nurse at Swedish Hospital. She said she then “followed God’s call” to study the Bible at Simpson Bible College in Seattle (now Simpson University in Redlands, California).
After her studies, she moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she served as a nurse at hospitals in Maduda and Kinkonzi, trained nursing students, ran a dispensary, and taught the Bible. Serving for 33 years, she had a heart for “ministering to both the human and spiritual needs of the Congolese,” said her nephew, Thom Kroon ’72.
Ruth maintained a love for service and relationship-building upon her retirement and return to the Seattle area in 1985. She volunteered at church and kept up with friends and family through quality time, as well as writing letters and emails.
Ruth died in 2018 at the age of 99. The Kroon family remembers her as a favorite aunt, not just because of the presents she gave and the memorable stories she told about her time in Congo, but because of her special way of connecting with every person she encountered.
“She was the kind of person that when she spoke to you, you were the only person in the world,” Thom said. “Her message to (SPU) students going to school here today would be — you make the world smaller by being a bigger person.”
Originally named “The Red Brick Building” after its completion in 1893, Alexander and Adelaide Hall has anchored the main campus for more than 130 years. In 1940, it was named “Alexander Hall” in honor of the University’s first president, Alexander Beers. In 2020, the Board of Trustees voted to add Adelaide’s name, Alexander’s wife and one of the first principals, to “reflect her significant partnership and influence in the early days of Seattle Pacific.” It is now the home of Seattle Pacific Seminary and faculty offices.
Thanks to the generosity of the Kroon family, the chapel was able to see updates to accommodate the building’s new steel frame, installed for seismic safety purposes. The chapel, one of the longest standing rooms in the building, is known as a place of prayer and connection for the University’s community members. A new plaque now honors Ruth with a photo and biography of her life and legacy of ministry.
The Kroon family hopes that by dedicating the chapel to Ruth, her name will inspire hearts for service through missions for generations to come.
