DOVER, Del.—Ruth Ann Minner, a sharecropper’s daughter who became the only woman to serve as Delaware’s governor, has died. She was 86. Minner, who served as governor from 2001 to 2009, passed away Thursday morning, according to Agriculture Secretary Michael Scuse, a friend who once served as her chief of staff. “She was a true leader, a great role model for women and those that have had it not so easy in life, to show that if you work hard, are honest, you can make it to the top,” Scuse said. A high school dropout who was twice widowed, Minner got her first taste of politics as a legislative bill clerk and rose through the Democratic Party ranks to become the state’s most powerful politician. As governor-elect in 2000, Minner didn’t dwell on breaking the gender barrier, but instead noted that she was the first governor in almost 50 years …