Blanche was born August 27, 1882, the daughter of Sebastian and Nancy Whanger Vick of Greenville, Ky. At the age of 31, she entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. On December 30, 1914, following an eight‑month postulancy, Blanche received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Ruth.
Sister Mary Ruth’s first assignment was St. Joseph at Owensboro, Ky., where she served as housekeeper for the teaching Sisters for 16 months. She then returned to Mount Saint Joseph where she spent the remainder of her years. Sister Mary Ruth assisted in the care of the Sisters who were ill with tuberculosis and did the cooking for them. Another time she was in charge of the little girls who lived in the Academy building. Even in her later years Sister Mary Ruth continued working in the infirmary. Piecing quilts on the machine was another time‑consuming task to which she devoted herself as the years passed. Hampered with a physical disability, she lived on the top floor of the St. Ursula building on the south side. When Sister Mary Ruth needed something, she would lower a basket on a rope over the side of the balcony with a note in it for whatever it was she wanted, then when the request was filled, she would haul the basket back up to herself.
Her 37 years as an Ursuline came to an end when Sister Mary Ruth breathed her last on August 5, 1951. Following the customary wake service, vigil, and Requiem Mass, she was buried in the convent cemetery.