Gorle, Ruth V. (Thomas) (1899–1971)

Ruth Gorle was a pioneering missionary educator and administrator who played a pivotal role in advancing Seventh-day Adventist education in Southern Africa. Notably, she was instrumental in the transition of Solusi College (now, Solusi University) to offering degree-level programs and introducing a leadership course that became foundational for senior Church workers throughout the Trans-Africa Division. This course was designed to equip leaders with the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively guide the Church’s growth and development in the Trans-Africa Division.

Early Life

Ruth Gorle née Thomas, was born on November 8, 1899, in Tegwani, within the Plumtree District of Rhodesia.¹ Her family had deep missionary roots, with her grandfather, Thomas M. Thomas (1828-1884), serving as a missionary for the London Missionary Society in the early 1850s among the Ndebele people in southern Africa.² Ruth grew up speaking Ndebele fluently and had a thorough understanding of local customs due to her family’s close associations with the Ndebele people.³

Marriage and Family

In 1924, Ruth married Robert Vaughan Gorle (1896-1937), and they moved to Salisbury, the capital of Southern Rhodesia (later Harare, Zimbabwe). Robert, who had been awarded the prestigious Victory Cross in World War I, was appointed sergeant-at-arms in the Rhodesia Legislative Assembly in Salisbury and also served as a parliamentary librarian.⁴

Becoming Adventists

Both Ruth and her husband Robert came from religious backgrounds. Robert was born on May 6, 1896, in Portsea Island, Hampshire, England, the son of Harry Vaughan Gorle (1868-1937) and Ethel Katherine Archdall (1873-1904).⁵ He joined the army to fight in the World War, and for his bravery, he was awarded a Victory Cross.⁶ He then moved to the colonies where demobilized soldiers were encouraged to move to, and he ended up in Rhodesia. It was here that he met Ruth, and they were married in 1924.

Their lives changed in November 1928 when Ernest Marter, a student colporteur, sold them a copy of The Great Controversy. Marter called on Ruth at her home to sell the book. Seeing it was rather expensive, Ruth declined, but Marter persisted. She only agreed to purchase it to get rid of him, but her husband was disappointed with her decision now that they were living on a strict budget. She decided to gift the book away, but before she did that, she read through it. It so happened that a visiting evangelist named Arthur Ingle came to Salisbury to conduct an evangelistic campaign. Ruth approached him with difficult questions and insights she had attained from reading The Great Controversy, and Ingle adequately responded to them, leading to their eventual conversion to Seventh-day Adventism.⁷ The couple was baptized and became charter members of the Salisbury Seventh-day Adventist Church. Being advocates for Christian education, they established the Salisbury Church School, even paying for a church schoolteacher from their own resources because the church could not fund the teacher.

Education

Robert Gorle unexpectedly died in January 1937 after suffering a severe bout of the flu. They were on a vacation in Durban, South Africa, when he came down with the illness that took his life. He was laid to rest in the Stellawood Cemetery in Durban.⁸ Widowed at only 37, Ruth took her three young children, Druscilla, Desmond, and Timothy, to Helderberg College, Somerset West, where she took some work as a teacher. She also resolved to obtain professional training, earning her B.A. and later her M.A. degrees. She worked at Helderberg in the English Department and became the college librarian in 1950, a position she held with distinction for eight years.

Missionary Service

In late 1957, Ruth accepted a call to Solusi College, where she laid the foundation for the college degree program. In 1958, she admitted the pioneer students of the degree Theology program at Solusi College. The students included Enoch Kacelenga (from Nyasaland), Thomas Lisso (from Tanganyika), Philemon Kapok, Yoshua Gwalamubisi (from Uganda), Francis Kamwendo (from Tanganyika), and Joseph Ngila-Kyale.⁹ Their study program was designed by Principal Dr. C. F. Clarke, and their lecturers included Dr. Russell Staples and Ruth V. Gorle.¹⁰

In 1961, Solusi College produced its first graduates since it was founded in 1894. Mrs. Gorle was at the heart of this significant milestone. The graduates were Yoshua Gwalamubisi, Joseph Ngila Kyale, and Thomas Lisso—successfully completed the diploma in Theology program.¹¹ This diploma was equivalent to a B.A. degree internationally and served as an entry qualification for graduate school (M.A. program) at the Theological Seminary at Andrews University in the United States. These three were the first graduate African pastors in all of Africa.

Mrs. Gorle was deeply connected with the college training program in Leadership, for continuing and in-service leaders at the Trans-Africa Division. Many national Adventist Church workers in the Division travelled to Solusi for the Leadership program and passed through her hands, earning her the title: Makhumalo – “Mother of Leaders.” Mrs. Gorle was known for her tireless work ethic, often working beyond the typical eight-hour day to give herself fully to her mission.

Death and Legacy

Ruth Gorle passed away on March 26, 1971, in Solusi in Bulawayo. Her funeral at Solusi College was attended by about five hundred people, including friends, staff, and former and present students. Pastor F. Unger, Pastor R. E. Clifford, and Pastor H. H. Mattison officiated during the ceremony.

Ruth Gorle’s legacy is marked by her dedication to education and leadership development, which had a lasting impact on the Adventist community in Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa. Her work not only advanced the educational standards at Solusi College, but also strengthened the leadership within the Adventist Church, ensuring its continued growth and influence.

Her son, Timothy V. Gorle, was a principal at Kamagambo Training School in Kenya between 1965 and 1967, handing the reigns over to F. N. Chase before Joseph Ngila Kyale (Mrs. Gorle’s student) took over as the first African principal. Her daughter, Dr. Drusilla Gorle-Hertogs, wrote a biography of Ruth entitled Ruth Gorle: Makhumalo: Mother of Leaders: Stories from My Mother’s Life Collected and Retold for All Grango’s Great-Grandchildren (Indiana University: 1997). Her children took after her in academia. Dr. Hertogs was a professor at Newbold while her brother, Timothy Gorle, went on to become principal at Solusi and moved further to become academic dean at Avondale College in Australia.

Sources

Clarke, Sylvia J. “Solusi: From Secondary School to College.” Adventist Heritage, Spring 1992.

FamilySearch.org. Accessed August 9, 2024.

Gorle, Ruth V. Southern Africa Division Outlook, February 15, 1962.

Ingle, A. “Obituary.” Southern Africa Division Outlook, February 1, 1937.

Jones, N. C. “THOMAS, THOMAS MORGAN (1828 - 1884), missionary.” Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved November 12, 2024, from https://biography.wales/article/s-THOM-MOR-1828.

“Robert Vaugh Gorle.” VC&GC Association (Victoria Cross and George Cross Holders Association). Accessed August 9, 2024. https://vcgca.org/our-people/profile/828/Robert-Vaughan-GORLE.

Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia. Second revised edition. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1996.

Siepman, Milton R. “Ruth V. Gorle, M.A.” Obituary. Trans-Africa Division Outlook, May 15, 1971.

Notes

1. Milton R. Siepman, “Ruth V. Gorle, M.A.,” obituary, Trans-Africa Division Outlook, May 15, 1971, 10.↩

2. Nansi Ceridwen Jones, “THOMAS, THOMAS MORGAN (1828 - 1884), missionary,” Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved November 12, 2024, from https://biography.wales/article/s-THOM-MOR-1828.↩

3. Seventh-day Adventist Encyclopedia, 1996, mmdlvii.↩

4. A. Ingle, “Obituary,” Southern Africa Division Outlook, February 1, 1937, 7.↩

5. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GHZP-MQ5, accessed August 9, 2024.↩

6. https://vcgca.org/our-people/profile/828/Robert-Vaughan-GORLE, accessed August 9, 2024.↩

7. Ibid.↩

8. Ibid.↩

9. Sylvia J. Clarke, “Solusi: From Secondary School to College,” Adventist Heritage, Spring 1992, 4.↩

10. Ibid.↩

11. Ruth V. Gorle, Southern Africa Division Outlook, February 15, 1962, 4.↩