Education
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
Born Philip Roux; 6 August 1883 – 24 October 1962) was Catholic priest and church architect. The style is often called prairie cathedral, which is a common nickname for several of his churches, even though only two of them are properly cathedrals. Ruh was born in Bickenholtz, Alsace-Lorraine, to poor parents.
When he wasn"t at school, he worked in the fields.
In his autobiography written two years before his death, he wrote, "There was no time for play except on Sundays after Massachusetts" After leaving school, he worked in the fields until deciding to become a priest. He joined the priesthood in the Oblates order in 1898 and he moved to the Netherlands for training.
After completing his novitiate, he studied for another six years in Germany. Then he was sent to be the Oblate missionary to the Ukrainian Catholic immigrants in Canada.
Ruh knew nothing about Ukrainians except that they were a Slavic nation.
He received additional training in the Ukrainian language and the Eastern Rite. Ruh had his first experience in architecture when he received an assignment to design a path up a hill and a play field for schoolchildren. Ruh received two more years of training before he was sent to Canada.
He arrived in April 1913.
There were few clergy for almost 250,000 Ukrainians. Ruh arrived at his new home at the village of Stry, north of the North Saskatchewan River.
He remained there until his death at Saint Boniface, Manitoba, aged 79. Saskatchewan General Web Project
Canadian Encyclopedia
Manitoba Historical Society / Dictionary of Manitoba Biography.