Estela Ruiz

In August 1998 Ruiz related that the Virgin of the Americas would soon stop issuing her public messages. Ruiz claimed to have received the final public message in December of the same year, but continues to receive personal and family messages. At the final, emotional reading, Ruiz read a message that focused on the Virgin's power of healing.

The NFL-YET, formerly called Esperanza Montessori Academy, was enlarged to serve over 600 students after receiving a million-dollar grant from the NFL in 1996.

The Ruizes' backyard shrine was an established pilgrimage site from 1989—1998. Ruiz appeared on the Geraldo Rivera Show and on the Sally Jessy Raphaël Show in the early 1990s and since then has traveled extensively to share her experiences. As a result, the shrine became one of the most frequented sites of the 1990s. The family also celebrates the anniversary of the first apparition, a celebration that has changed over time. While clergy have always been involved with the family and the phenomenon, the Church has become more involved over time as the shrine and Mary's Ministries have become more institutional. A procession was instituted in 1990, during which processioners carry holy images, statues, and crosses, sing hymns, and sprinkle holy water in the crime-ridden streets of South Phoenix. The hearing of confessions began in the early 1990s, and Mass and the Eucharist began in 1998. Attendance at the yearly celebration grew, peaking at about one thousand for the reading of the final message in 1998. Afterwards, the shrine was converted into an enclosed chapel, and the yard surrounding it was fenced in. Instead of being open to the community at all times, where it was one of the few neutral zones for South Phoenix's gangs, the chapel is now only open at certain hours. And since the final message, the yearly celebration has become more of a retreat for Mary's Ministries members, although the Matachina dancers who attended the first celebration and performed for the Virgin of Guadalupe still attend.

Meanwhile, her husband Reyes, who had long been involved in many Catholic activities, including the encuentro movement of Spanish-speaking Catholics in the United States, the Catholic farmworkers rights campaigns, and prison ministries, forged ties with Father Jack Spaulding of St. Maria Goretti Church in Scottsdale and his group of nine young Marian visionaries. In 1988, he accompanied Father Spaulding to Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the Virgin Mary appeared to six youths beginning in 1981. While in Medjugorje, Reyes prayed that his wife would help lead the family down a more spiritual path.

On the night of December 3, 1988, Ruiz, Reyes, their son Fernando, and Fernando's wife Leticia, who was pregnant with their fourth child, were all praying the Rosary. Ruiz in particular was praying for her son Reyes Jr., who was struggling with cocaine addiction and for Fernando and Leticia's marriage. During the final decade, Ruiz says she saw a light emanating from a portrait of the Immaculate Heart of Mary that grew brighter until it forced her to close her eyes. At that moment, the Virgin spoke to her: "Don't you know that I am going to take care of your children?" Ruiz was overcome with emotion and began to cry, calling out, "Qué linda! Qué linda!" ("She's beautiful! She's beautiful!").

Ruiz married Reyes Ruiz, a man who had been a devotee of the Virgin of Guadalupe since the age of seven. The two had six children, four of whom graduated from institutes of higher education. One of their sons, Armando Ruiz, became a representative in the Arizona House of Representatives and later in the Arizona State Senate. After her children had all grown, Ruiz decided to return to school and focus on her career. She earned a Bachelor's degree in education from Ottawa University in Phoenix, and enrolled in a Master's of Education program at Northern Arizona University. In the early 1970s, she was hired to work for the Murphy School District in Phoenix and worked her way up the bureaucratic ladder to become superintendent of the district's bilingual programs.

Estela Ruiz (born April 8, 1936) is an alleged Marian visionary in Phoenix, Arizona.