Clara Ruth Antilley Skaggs

Clara Ruth Antilley Skaggs Clara Ruth Antilley Skaggs (Mrs. Ronnie Skaggs), age 87, died Friday, July 12, 2013 in Abilene, Texas. Funeral services will be held Monday, July 22, 2013 at 10 a.m. at The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road in Abilene with the Rev. Herb Wood officiating. Interment will follow in Potosi Cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday, July 21st from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Ruth was born July 1, 1926 in Elmdale, Texas to Ray Triplette Antilley and Sarah Catherine Insall Antilley. She attended schools in Elmdale, Abilene High School, Gail Business College, and Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. Before her marriage to Ronnie, she worked for civil service OPA (Office of Price Control) during WWII. There she met a young soldier from Camp Barkeley who became her husband on September 5, 1944. Soon he was sent overseas where he fought in General Patton’s 3rd Army and the Battle of the Bulge. After returning home from the war, they made their home in Abilene and had two daughters, Rita and Connie. Ronnie became an ordained Baptist Minister in 1951 and Ruth faithfully supported Ronnie’s work. She held numerous positions in Associational Baptist work while being a pastor’s wife, and worked 37 years for the Dallas Baptist Convention as Director of BSM (Baptist Student Ministries of Texas) at Ranger and Cisco Junior Colleges. Friends say Ruth never met a stranger and always had a smile and a hug for everyone. Ruth was preceded in death August 7, 2008 by her husband of 64 years, Rev. Ronnie Skaggs; parents, Ray and Callie Antilley; and brother, T.H. Antilley. Survivors include daughters Rita Franssen and husband Richard, and Connie Powell and husband Mike McBride, all of Fredericksburg, TX; three grandchildren, Ron David Franssen and wife Stephanie, Tami Chaney and husband Paul, and Ginger Powell; and four great-grandchildren, Nicholas Franssen and wife Courtney, Tyler Franssen, Ryan and Sarah Chaney. She is also survived by her older brother, Ray T. Antilley of Beaumont; sister-in-law, Lola Antilley of Abilene; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Pallbearers will be David Redwine, Don Redwine, Jack Hayden, Stanley Griffith, Larry Walls, and Ralph Landers. The family wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Drs. Hirsch and Vega, Hendrick HouseCalls, First Baptist Church of Abilene, and University Place. We also deeply appreciate the special attention, loving care and support so graciously given to Mother by Hazel Antilley, Debra Landers, Stanley Griffith and Michal Watson.