SAGINAW, Mich. — Sister Mary Ruth Rault DC has won hearts on both sides of the bars at the Saginaw County Jail. Rault, 75, retired in the fall after serving 14 years as a jail chaplain. Her work with inmates changed lives and earned her a place as a Saginawian of the Year for 2006.
“I love my work,” Rault said. “I loved seeing the inmates, seeing them mature and want to make changes in their lives. I also appreciated seeing all the hard work that the deputies and staff have to do.
“Sometimes, it was disheartening seeing the same people come back. But we can never give up.”
Rault had a simple approach to working with jail inmates: She separated the person from the crime. In a Jan. 16, 1994, interview with The Saginaw News, Rault said she never asked inmates why they were serving time. She saw only human beings, she said.
“What could you say? What adjectives would you use?” Sheriff Charles L. Brown said of her. “She’s fantastic. She’s irreplaceable. She does so much for so many. She has probably saved more people in the county than anyone I know. She has helped them turn their lives around. That’s the most important thing I can say about her.
