Sister Ruth Pearson Ladd, widow of Elder W. Don Ladd, an emeritus General Authority Seventy, died on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Lilburn, Georgia, at the age of 86.
Sister Ladd and her husband served and ministered to Latter-day Saints throughout his call as a general authority from 1994 to 2000 and as a regional representative from 1977 to 1987.
Her obituary states that her life was a reflection of her “quiet, steady testimony of the Savior.”
Ruth Lynne Pearson was born in Heber City, Utah, on Dec. 14, 1939, the youngest child of Oswald Levi Pearson and June Vilate Young Pearson. Young Ruth grew up in a loving Latter-day Saint home in Salt Lake City with roots reaching back to the early pioneers of the Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder and Sister Ladd shared with the Church News in 1994.
While she was growing up, her father taught math and science in junior high school and was a high school principal. Her mother died a year and a half before Ruth graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah in child development in the spring of 1962.
Feeling “a little adventurous and unsettled” following the death of her mother, Ruth got a summer job in Washington, D.C., with Sen. Wallace F. Bennett. There she met William Donald “Don” Ladd.
“He was the most polite person I had ever met,” recalled Sister Ladd of their introduction at a Church-sponsored devotional. “He was so comfortable and easy to be around. I told him that one of the things I liked was that when we were together, the occasional periods of silence were comfortable” (“Life of Elder Ladd has been filled with harmony, kindness,” Church News, May 7, 1994).
For his part, Elder Ladd said he was struck by her “big, brown eyes” and deep commitment to the gospel.
The two were married on Dec. 20, 1962, in the Logan Utah Temple and raised their family — two sons and two daughters — in Washington, D.C.
The two served in a variety of callings through the years and shared a love of ballet, theater, classical music, reading and baseball. Elder Ladd died in 2009 at age 76.
Sister Ladd derived joy from creating a gospel-centered home and nurturing her loved ones. “She taught her children and grandchildren to love the Lord by the way she loved them,” her obituary states.
She is survived by her children: Joseph (Marci Colton), Dana (Tyler Rollins), Christopher (Jojo Burkholder), and Kimberly (Todd Duffield); 16 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; and her eldest sister, JoAnn Pearson Jensen. She is preceded in death by her husband; her parents, Oswald Levi Pearson and June Vilate Young; her sister, Nancy Rae Pearson Folsom; and her twin brothers, Oswald Levi and Oliver Leland Pearson.
Funeral services were held on Thursday, Jan. 22. Interment is at the San Mateo Cemetery, in San Mateo, Florida.
