Eternity to Sing
A tribute in honor of Luz Ruiz Tenorio
In late 2015, Luz Ruiz Tenorio, administrative assistant in the School of Architecture & Interior Design at Andrews University, went to a medical clinic concerned about difficulty she was experiencing in swallowing. She was told she had sinus troubles and was sent home. The feeling never went away.
In July 2016, Luz went to a different medical center for both the continued swallowing issue and the additional concern of extreme pain in her left hip. She was having difficulty walking. Luz was told she had a pinched sciatic nerve and was treated accordingly. Over the next two months, Luz was denied requests for x-rays and futher tests, and she began to experience serious side effects to the drugs she had been prescribed for her sciatic nerve diagnosis. She was ultimately diagnosed with stage four bone cancer in her left hip and sternum on September 28, 2016.
In need of personal care, Luz moved in with her sister, Willyta (Douglas) Wamack, and her husband in their apartment at Wisconsin Academy (Columbus). There, with dedicated care from her family and Hospice staff, she lived until her death. In the quiet early hours of Christmas morning, Luz passed away in her sleep. A memorial service was held in Pioneer Memorial Church on the campus of Andrews University on Saturday, January 14, 2017. As she requested, her ashes were buried with their mother in Rose Hill Cemetery in Berrien Springs on Sunday morning, January 15.
A Female Daniel
Luz was born on January 30, 1958, in Miraflores, Perú, the daughter of Esteban Clodomiro Ruiz- Rodriguez and Wilfrida Tenorio-Bendezú. In 1979, Luz moved with her sister, Willyta, to serve as student missionaries at Nameless Valley Ranch in Texas. In 1989, Luz moved to Berrien Springs, Michigan.
“My sister’s life has always been an example since she was a toddler,” says Willyta. “She grew up a female Daniel, you could say: She was firm in her beliefs, she never wavered. Peer pressure was never a factor, regardless of how lonely and rejected she felt because she was never with the majority. She knew it was her mission to set the example, be firm and be faithful to God.”
When Luz was four years old she was sitting in church listening to their pastor father preach, and something touched her heart. She turned to her mother and said, “I want to give my life to Jesus. I want to be baptized.”
Willyta recalls that Luz must have thought it was her duty on earth to make sure her family was ready to meet the Lord. Luz and their mother learned English and began to enjoy studying Sabbath School lessons in both Spanish and English. Since Willyta didn’t know English at the time, she was disinterested in that portion of their study, so she would go to bed.
“Luz would wake me up and make me sit and listen,” recalls Willyta. “My poor sister was so concerned that I found no enjoyment in things of God.”
Life with Purpose
God and spiritual topics were always of special interest to Luz. She was well-educated in biblical and religious studies, having earned an associate’s degree in Bible work and Personal Ministry from Loma Linda University, a bachelor’s degree in theology at Andrews and a Master’s of Divinity from the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on the campus of Andrews University.
Whenever Luz returned to Perú to visit their family, she always made sure it was a mission trip, visiting family members that belonged to other denominations to bring them the Seventh-day Adventist message.
“Luz never took leisurely vacations,” says Antonieta Corrales, Luz’s cousin. “Her trips had a purpose: to spread the word about God’s salvation message.”
On one such trip Luz visited the homeland of their grandparents, where nearly 100 years ago all Bibles were confiscated by the local Catholic priest and burned. Luz’s mission was to ensure that each family in that village had a Bible again, and she made sure it happened. She was also the driving force behind her mother’s dream to build an elementary school in Palpa, Perú. This dream became a reality in 2013, when 100 students were enrolled in the new school. Only one was Adventist.
“Everything that surrounds us tells us where our interest is,” says Willyta. “For my dear sister, it was Jesus, God, serving others and her focus on the love of God. She had a conviction to follow Jesus from the time she was four years old and no matter what she went through, she remained faithful to the core. She loved Jesus and was never ashamed to tell others of Him.”
"I Have My Own Mission"
This concern for others’ salvation carried over into her work at Andrews University, as well. Despite her years of study and her master’s degree, Luz did not join the ministry as others expected her to. Instead, she took a position where she felt called by God to minister and spent over 12 years serving in the office of the School of Architecture & Interior Design.
When asked why she didn’t apply for jobs in conferences that support women in ministry, Luz responded, “I have my own mission here in the School of Architecture & Interior Design. Many of these students will be working in very secular environments when they graduate and they need to know about God before they leave.”
Her efforts did not go unnoticed. Students will remember Luz for her purposeful and unrelenting love and care for everyone she encountered, and the way she made each of them feel special.
A Reflection of God
One student Cecilia, shares, “I will certainly miss the education I got from Luz while working with her in the office. She had so much knowledge about God and I am so thankful God made Luz part of my college experience.”
Another student, Gala, wrote, “Luz was the most joyful person I’ve ever met. Her welcoming smile was the best medicine for any ailment, and she reflected God’s love through her loving godly character every day.”
Briana, another student, shares, “I was very nervous when I arrived as a new student here at Andrews, but Luz greeted my dad and me warmly, and I held onto that feeling of welcome as a way that I could allow myself to attend a school so far away from my family and friends. Over the following four years, Luz proved over and over that she did indeed care about me and all the other students’ wellbeing. I always felt so special and important because Luz greeted me with a smile every single time.”
Eric Lianda, an architecture alumnus, tells the story about when he first arrived in the United States.
“I had just landed in a country with no friends or family, but Luz immediately became my friend and my family,” says Eric. “She noticed the fear in my eyes and asked if she could take me to buy a calling card to call my family. She introduced me to her family and her family became my family, too. They made sure I excelled at everything I did, especially in my education. Luz was a beautiful person inside and out, and I am blessed to have met her.”
Joy in Her Heart
Faculty, too, have felt deeply the loss of such an endearing, Christ-like person in their department. They enjoyed listening to her communicate with the students using terms of endearment she genuinely felt, especially in Spanish: Querida (dear) and Corazon (sweetheart).
“Luz had a true servant heart and served with such joy and enthusiasm,” says Thomas Lowing, associate professor of architecture. “I see now that we were born in the same decade, but I would have guessed her to be at least one, if not two, decades younger than I by the energy and enthusiasm she had in serving our students.”
Faculty recall with a chuckle that Luz’s laugh was so loud that they often had to close doors so as not to distract the students in their labs. They always did so with a smile, enjoying the fact that Luz’s joyful heart was always present in everything she did.
“Rarely does one work with a colleague whose devotion to Christ is so readily present and whose insistence on service to others is so strong,” remarks Mark Moreno, associate professor of architecture. “Luz had joy in her heart that overflowed always and for all. I cannot help but believe that Luz’s faith carried her to that day when the world each year celebrates the birth of Christ. On that special day, she began her peaceful rest in wait of his second coming. This and Luz’s life were a beautiful reflection of Advent.”
Music as Ministry
Reflecting Christ’s image wasn’t the only way Luz ministered to others. She also had a passion for and was gifted in all things musical.
“Luz inherited the love of music and her keen ear from our father, and her beautiful voice from our mother,” says Willyta.
Their father directed choirs and Luz often participated, thinking nothing of the fact that the rest of the choir members were much older than she was.
“In 1973, Wilfrida brought her daughters with her to her audition for the choir at Peruvian Union University,” recalls Turibio De Burgo, choir director at UPeU. “Luz was 14 years old, and her mother thought she was too young to sing in an adult choir. However, during the audition, I noticed that although she was a young teen, her voice was not, so she became the youngest member of the college choir.”
Her voice wasn’t the only musical gift Luz was given.
“Luz learned from an early age about the healing that piano playing can miraculously do for a weary soul,” recalls Willyta. “She found comfort and solace at the piano.”
She used her God-given musical talents in churches, nursing homes, Sabbath School classes and for funerals. She performed at camp meetings and traveled to Europe, Israel and Perú with choirs. Luz often sang for both English and Spanish camp meetings, and was often asked for recordings to purchase. Her priority was always earning money for the elementary school in Palpa, but in summer of 2016 Willyta and Luz began making plans for a recording opportunity in 2017.
One afternoon in Wisconsin, Willyta was crying because her sister had not had the chance to record. Luz responded, “Bigita, remember: We will have eternity to sing.”
In Memory
Memorial donations in honor of Luz can be made to the Architecture Missions Group for Palpa School. For information on making a donation, contact the Office of Development at Andrews University at development@andrews.edu or 269-471-3124.
A Selection of Luz's Favorite Scriptures
- Galatians 3:27-28
- Psalm 139:13-14
- Proverbs 3:5-6
- Psalm 32:7
- Colossians 3:1-4
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
- Philippians 2:1-5
- John 15:12
- James 1:27
- Galatians 6:2
- Romans 12:11-13
Related Links:
PR
pr@andrews.edu
269-471-3322
