Ruth Toms Milam

        God has called another of his earthly angel’s home. Ruth Milam, a longtime resident of Natchitoches, was side by side with her heavenly father on Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2024) following a brief illness. Mrs. Ruth, as she was affectionately known, was born in Springhill, LA the sixth child of Henry Grady Toms and Mary Phadra Morgan Toms. 

      Funeral services will be on Monday at First Baptist Church of Natchitoches on Second Street. Visiting will begin at 9:30 a.m. and run until services begin at 11 a.m. Pastor Tommy Rush will officiate. Burial will be in the Cotton Valley Cemetery in Cotton Valley, LA at 3.p.m. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Bill Milam and her siblings.

      She is survived by daughter, Taryn Stephanie Miles and husband John, of Bossier City, and son, Stephen Ray Milam and wife Ann of Minden; four grandchildren, John Wesley Colwell and wife Leslie, Christopher Kyle Colwell and wife Melodie, Ashley Paige Beck and Stephen Cody Milam, step-grandchildren Kealey Barnes, Lindsey Miles, Lou Ann Hicks, Bridget Bushnell and Chad Nelson and numerous great grandchildren. She was a second mom to her numerous nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly and some very special neighbors in Sudburry Subdivision where she lived. She will be deeply missed by them all, as well as her church family. 

       Mrs. Ruth was devoted to her Lord and Savior, her family, her church and her friends were synonymous with Mrs. Ruth. Her bible, a devotional, and a study lesson or two were often within her reach. Even in her final days, visitors would find her bible open in her lap or nearby. She, Bill and family moved to Natchitoches in 1966 along with several other Cotton Valley families when Bill transferred from the Placid Field in North Webster Parish to the newly opened Black Lake Placid Field out from Clarence. She worked for a number of years for Dr. Burton Dupuy, a local optometrist. She only had one other job when she moved over to City Bank and Trust. She worked as an executive assistant to the late City Bank President Ed Pierson at the downtown branch and later at the newly opened College Avenue (University Parkway) branch. She retired from City Bank after nearly 30 years of service. Her retirement years were dedicated to her family and church. Honoring Mrs. Ruth as pallbearers will be Wes Colwell, Kyle Colwell, Mason Colwell, Lucas Colwell, Dave Bushnell and Ethan Nelson.