When Ruth Elton first set foot in Nigeria in 1937, at just three years old, she was just a child following her missionary parents.
She could never have known then that Ilesa, Osun state, would become her eternal home. For nine decades, she walked village paths, preached the gospel, and fought to save mothers and infants. She spent her life in villages across Kogi and the southwest, teaching, healing, preaching, and nurturing children.
Just days before her 91st birthday, she passed away, closing a life that was nothing short of extraordinary.
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Early Life
Ruth Elton was born on September 7, 1933, in the United Kingdom. She was the only child of missionary parents, Sidney Granville Elton (Pa Elton) and his wife, Hannah. Her father had moved the family to Nigeria in 1937 to support Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola during the great revival that swept across Yorubaland.
While Babalola blazed with prophetic fire, Pa Elton provided teaching, mentoring, and discipleship to the young Pentecostal movement. Pa Elton, who is referred to as one of the founding fathers of Pentecostalism in Nigeria naturalised as a Nigerian.
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Although she spent a few years in England in a vocational school. Alongside her parents, she served as a Christian missionary across Egbe, Okene, Koton Karfe, and other parts of Kogi, Ondo, Oyo, and Osun States.
As her father mentored new church leaders like Benson Idahosa, E. A. Adeboye, David Oyedepo & others in the ’60s & ’70s, little Ruth embraced the country completely and became fluent in Ebira and Yoruba.
Missionary Work
Her mission was focused on health and reducing maternal deaths in places like Egbe, Okene, Koton-Karfe & areas. She dedicated herself to stemming infant mortality, advocating better maternal health, and challenging harmful traditional practices like infant force-feeding. She also taught sewing, cared for children, and spread the gospel tirelessly.
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The Ebira people gave her the name Omotere, meaning “the one who does good.” In 1975, Ruth renounced her British citizenship as there was no provision for dual citizenship then. She naturalised as a full Nigerian, and her life became rooted here. Her mother, Hannah, passed in 1983 and her father in 1987. Both were buried in Ilesa.
Ruth Elton suffered dangers too. She was once beaten unconscious by robbers and suffered severe injuries from the attack during one of her mission trips in the bush of Kogi several years ago. Her health suffered greatly since then, but the incident did not change her resolve and passion for the gospel of the kingdom of God, which she preached passionately.
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Ruth remained single all her life, devoting herself entirely to mission work and community service. She was also a custodian of her father’s prophecies, holding firmly to his vision that, though Nigeria may be associated with corruption for a season, the country would one day be known worldwide for righteousness and prosperity.
Death (1933–2025)
After many years of missionary work, she eventually retired to Ilesa where she lived before her death on Saturday, August 30th, at her family house, Sharon compound, Alafia Bamin Quarters in Ilesa, Osun State. She’s expected to be buried beside her parents in Ilesa.
She was the last surviving link to Ilesa’s once-thriving British community, which included a circle of missionaries, colonial officers, miners, and traders who had made the town their base as far back as the 1910s.
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