Eleanor "Ruth" Garner (81) went home to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, June 10, 2026.

A funeral service to honor Ruth’s life will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, June 13th at Newport Baptist Church, officiated by Rev. Ken Hardin. Interment will follow at Gethsemane Memorial Park in Newport. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service.

Ruth was born May 1, 1945. She lived in Newport, NC her whole life and was a faithful member of Newport Baptist Church where she taught in the preschool for 28 years. She was predeceased by her parents Benjamin Thomas “B.T.” and Eunice Smith and her eldest brother Ira Thomas Smith.

Ruth married Sherrill F. Garner on September 21, 1963, and they were married for 62 years. They had three children, Karla Batchelor (Michael) of Pikeville, NC, Naomi Hardin (Ken) of Moncks Corner, SC, and Keith Garner (Amanda) of Newport, NC. When her children were small Ruth spent their childhood as a stay-at-home mom and was an avid seamstress, organizer and cook, but as the children grew, she began to work outside of the home. She worked as a secretary for a couple of Newport real estate companies, took classes at Carteret Technical College and worked as a teller at Newport First Citizens Bank with her "sidekick" Jane Garner. Ruth and Jane were close friends and neighbors and had many fun adventures together like numerous beach trips, shopping and working in the Newport Little-League Concession Stand.

Ruth loved her family, her church family, ice cream, anything chocolate, especially "Baby Ruth" bars, and the color red, and maybe not in that order! She beat breast cancer twice-but spent the last 1O+ years of her life battling Alzheimer's/Dementia. The final 17 months of her life were spent at the Brookdale Memory Care Facility in Morehead City. She was faithfully attended to by her husband Sherrill while at home and while she was at Brookdale Morehead City.

In addition to her husband and children, Ruth leaves behind her two brothers, Earl Smith of Morehead City NC, and Lewis Smith (Sharon) of Newport, NC; eight grandchildren, Trevor Garner (Kacey), Stewart Garner (Hannah), Cara Bloomberg (Chris), Josh Hardin, Madison Garner (Molly), Rebekah Grace Hardin, Luke Frederick (Ariel), and Liam Ott. She also leaves six great-grandchildren, Waylon Bloomberg, Eleanor Garner, Presleigh Frederick, Adalynn Bloomberg, Dean Garner, and Benjamin Garner. Ruth and Sherrill also took under their wing after the death of their parents, Julie Garner Hathaway (Todd) and Kyle Garner.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Newport Elementary Backpack Food Fund, 312 Chatham St., Newport, NC 28570.

Family and friends are welcome to submit online condolences at www.mundenfuneralhome.net.

Arrangements by Munden Funeral Home & Crematory in Morehead City, NC.