The first woman to serve as head of state of the Republic of Liberia was laid to rest in central Ohio last Sunday. 77-year-old Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh-Perry had been living in Reynoldsburg for the past several years when she died of an illness on January 8. In 1996, she was appointed to head a six-member Council of State of the Liberia National Transitional Government amid a years-long civil war. The only woman serving on the council was able to bring peace among rival factions in the west African nation.