Ruth Irene Costello

The Rev. Ruth Costello died on October 7, 2026. She leaves a legacy of compassion, service, and a lifelong commitment to helping people find dignity, healing, and belonging.

Raised in Pittsburgh as an only child, Ruth grew up surrounded by her parents, grandmother, and uncle. Her mother instilled in her a love of books, a deep Christian faith, and pride in her heritage. Ruth was drawn early to church, music, and theater. As a teenager, she traveled to Guyana with an interracial theater project. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater from Kent State University in 1974.

Ruth built a distinguished career in behavioral health and addiction services. After earning a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from the Illinois Institute of Technology, she worked as a counselor, program coordinator, and eventually associate director of Behavioral Health Services at the Lake County Health Department. She helped develop and lead programs serving people affected by addiction, including women and children, and worked in HIV counseling, testing, and support. She also taught at the College of Lake County and mentored and supervised other clinicians. Her work received recognition, including a 1995 HIVCO Community Achievement Award.

Faith remained an important thread throughout Ruth’s life, even during years when she stepped away from church. After experiences of conflict and loss in congregational life, she chose to seek healing and learn more about how communities could work through conflict. She returned to church at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Crystal Lake and began pursuing a call to ministry. Ruth earned a Master of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and brought to her ministry the same care, candor, and commitment to healing that had shaped her counseling career.

Ruth was thoughtful, curious, and willing to keep asking difficult questions about faith, justice, and how people care for one another. Her life joined creative spirit with practical service, and she made a difference in the lives of people and communities across many decades.

She is survived by her sons, Eric (Jessica) Johnson and Philip (Morgan) Johnson, and her grandchildren, Layla, Emmett, Calliope, and Finnegan.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Crystal Lake or the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, October 14, at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, 485 W. Woodstock St., Crystal Lake, from 9:30am until the funeral service at 11:00 am.   A luncheon will follow.  Burial will be at Windridge Memorial Park, Cary.