Manhattan, USA - Ruth Stafford Peale, 101, who with her husband, Norman Vincent Peale, co-founded the global inspirational organization Guideposts, died Feb. 6 at her home in Pawling, N.Y. No cause of death was announced.
Norman Vincent Peale was one of the 20th century's foremost preachers and motivational speakers. He wrote "The Power of Positive Thinking," a bestseller that outlines how people can improve and strengthen their lives through faith.
Norman Vincent Peale, the longtime pastor of Manhattan's Marble Collegiate Church, part of the Reformed Church in America, died in 1993.
The couple founded the Guideposts organization in 1945, along with the magazine of that name, which is still a popular publication with an annual readership of about 8 million.
At her death, Mrs. Peale was chairwoman emerita of Guideposts, which is launching OurPrayer.org, an online prayer community, next month. The Ruth Stafford Peale Prayer Power Network, named in her honor, receives about 600,000 prayer requests a year.
Mrs. Peale, a religious leader, speaker and author, handled publication of her husband's sermons at the Peale Center for Christian Living in Pawling, which has a worldwide outreach division. The center's programs include Knit for Kids, which distributes handmade sweaters to children in need.
Guideposts provides hundreds of thousands of free magazines and booklets to hospitals, nursing homes, military organizations and relief agencies.
Mrs. Peale, born in Fonda, Iowa, graduated from Syracuse University and taught high school mathematics before her marriage, which lasted 63 years.
Survivors include three children, Margaret Peale Everett of Sherman, Conn., Elizabeth Peale Allen of Pawling and John Stafford Peale of Palmyra, Va.; eight grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.