Fr. Frank Ruff, GHM, anoints the walls of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Todd County with Sacred Chrism during the Dec. 9, 2017 dedication and consecration of the new church building. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC
‘It’s your place to serve’
Fr. Frank Ruff reflects on retirement from decades-long ministry in diocese
BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
Avoiding the spotlight, and putting the faithful before himself, has been a cornerstone of Fr. Frank Ruff’s ministry within the Diocese of Owensboro.
Whether he has helped to build multiple new churches, coordinated ecumenical gatherings, participated in racial reconciliation conversations, or accompanied migrant parishioners, the Glenmary Home Missioners priest insists it was never about, or led by, himself.
As a beloved figure among the rural Hispanic/Latino communities he has served, it may even come as a surprise that Fr. Ruff is not fluent in Spanish.
“My Spanish isn’t good; I can’t even carry on a conversation,” said Fr. Ruff. Yet, he has become an indispensable figure in these communities for decades.
“A lot of that is my Glenmary background,” he said, describing his religious community’s emphasis on connecting with the heart and building relationships – and not being limited by language barriers.
Fr. Ruff, recently speaking with The Western Kentucky Catholic, described the bittersweet feeling of retiring at 90 years old as he plans to move back to Glenmary’s headquarters in Ohio, leaving behind the rural community he has called home.
In this file photo from March 2016, Fr. Frank Ruff, GHM, speaks with parishioners in Todd County, Kentucky, as they anticipate the building of the future St. Francis of Assisi Parish. TINA KASEY | WKC
The diocese has seen many Glenmary priests, brothers, and sisters serve in its history. Fr. Ruff has been the sole Glenmary priest ministering within the diocese for the past few years.
Fr. Ruff arrived in the diocese in 1991, as he followed in the footsteps of the first Glenmary mission in western Kentucky (Sunfish, Kentucky, in 1942).
“Glenmary goes to places with few-to-no Catholics; usually less than 1%,” said Fr. Ruff, describing his initial assignment of helping to establish parishes in locations without a Catholic church.
After serving in several parishes as sacramental minister in those early years – “not the pastor,” he emphasized – Fr. Ruff nonetheless found himself assigned to be the parish administrator for St. Mary Parish in Franklin.
He helped them with the process of building a new church but pointed out that “the parishioners took a lot of lead in the parish – it was not a top-down approach.”
After that assignment, Fr. Ruff was sent to Todd County in 2000 to be the pastor of both Sts. Mary and James Parish in Guthrie and St. Susan Parish in Elkton.
Serving as pastor “includes not just taking care of the Catholics but taking care of the community and reaching out to the unchurched and those who are pushed down by the rest of society – the poor and the outcast,” he said.
Fr. Ruff embraced his new role with this mindset, which included welcoming the initially 35 Hispanic parishioners – which today has increased to about 500, with 125 white parishioners in comparison.
In this file photo, Fr. Frank Ruff, GHM, is seen during the Dec. 8, 2016 groundbreaking for the future St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Todd County. LAURA RIGSBY | WKC
When Sts. Mary and James burned down in an electrical fire in 2015, and in light of the growing community at St. Susan, Bishop William F. Medley approved the merging of the two parishes into a single, larger parish: St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Guthrie.
The strong relationships Fr. Ruff had formed among local non-Catholics meant that the people of the community – whether Baptists, Mennonites, or others – helped with recovery and healing after the fire.
Fr. Ruff’s engagement with racial reconciliation in Todd County saw a workshop, and ongoing developments, to help Black and white communities explore needs and expectations shared by all people: “It really did change things in the county; we are all one body,” he said.
At a recent ecumenical meeting for local pastoral ministers – and the final one Fr. Ruff would attend – one of the pastors said, “Let’s pray for Frank.”
“By the end of his prayer, a third of the people were crying,” said Fr. Ruff, reflecting on how “they know me. And I respect them as my brothers and sisters.”
He said that moving to Ohio “will be a change, but I’m 90 now, so the Lord’s in charge. When we can accept that, it really makes life better.”
“It’s not your place to be in charge,” he said of his vocation. “It’s your place to serve.”
Originally printed in the November 2026 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
