Ruth Ann Hanna

Ruth Ann Hanna How do you condense a person's life, the sum of their dreams, their hopes, their accomplishments into a paragraph or two? Ruth Ann Hanna's life could be said to start as it ended: Her with God. She was born an orphan on September 1, 1928, and, shortly thereafter, was adopted into the loving home of Robert Collie and Nellie Mae Shelton of Stamford, Texas. For the next 87 years she would celebrate her birthdays not on the 1st, but the 15th of September. She died peacefully in her sleep on August 2nd, her mother's birthday. Her son remembers his mom smiling and saying as she grew older, "All my friends are dead and those still alive don't remember." Well, truth be told, all her friends are not dead, and those alive will remember. Her family loved her, and she will be missed. Ruth grew up in Stamford, an only child of devoted parents. After graduating from Stamford High School she attended Texas Christian University (yes, Ruth Ann was a TCU fighting frog), where she met her future husband, Kenneth Frick. Fifteen years and four children later they divorced, and Ruth started afresh. She became Mrs. Klein a few years later, moved to the country for a while and then moved on. She began her life afresh again, this time in Abilene. It was here in the early 1970's that Ruth began her career helping others in the medical field. She went back to school and became a licensed vocational nurse. Ruth was in her early forties by then. She was looking at two marriages in the rearview mirror and planning a better future. Over the next decade her three oldest children, all daughters, married and gave her the best sons-in-law ever, and her youngest, her son, started the college years which would later lead to pharmacy school. Ruth was proud of her children, all in the beginnings of their adult lives. Ruth may have been a middle-aged momma, but she still had a few surprises in store for her. She turned fifty without a single grandchild on the ground. Before she turned fifty-five she was blessed with seven grandchildren. More than anything she loved her family. It was a constant in her life that never changed. Ruth was fun and nonjudgmental and always had loads of friends. When she was in her mid-fifties she and two of her girlfriends put a personal ad in the Abilene newspaper as a joke. They used Ruth's post office box as the return address and signed it "Blonde, Brunette & Redhead." The only response came back to "Blonde". Ruth finally met the love of her life. She married Doug Hanna on November 25, 1991, and moved to the country again, this time Lometa. She was sixty-three years old. For the next few years Ruth happily spent most of her time between Lometa and Abilene, with occasional detours to Houston and Garland, again all about family, caring for her mother, her children and her grandchildren. Ruth's son had two children by then, taking the count to nine on grandchildren. Doug died when Ruth was sixty-eight, and she sadly moved back to Abilene. She healed by spending most of her time helping her mom, Nell, and helping out her two children and four grandchildren living in Abilene. Again, family was paramount, but Ruth continued to also have many close friends. When Ruth was seventy-two her mother died. She had cared for Nell until she was ninety-nine. When Ruth was seventy-nine her son presented her with her tenth grandchild and a few years later her eleventh and last. In the meantime, four of her grandchildren blessed her with seven great-grandchildren. Ruth was loving and supportive and always thought and said only the best about her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In her eyes we were all perfect. The one thing she never wavered in was her love and thankfulness for "my wonderful family". Ruth Ann Shelton Frick Klein Hanna was an extraordinary ordinary woman. Thank you, Mom We Love you. Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, Robert Collie Shelton & Nellie Mae Shelton & three husbands. Ruth is survived by her children: Pat & Mike Heim of Houston, Marion & Joel Jenkins of Rockwall, June & Bud Williams of Abilene & Ken & Joanna Frick of Abilene. Grandchildren, Toni Kerr, Nick Heim, Melissa Harris, Casey Williams, Kristen Heim, Samantha Heim, Jake Jenkins, Kent Frick, Lauren Benton, Garrett Frick & Max Frick. Great-grandchildren, Taylor Richardson, Savannah Williams, Ava Heim, Dalton Harris, Haylee Williams, Holly Heim & Wyatt Harris. Visitation will be Thursday, August 4th from 6:30 to 8:00 P.M. at The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road, Abilene. Funeral service will be 1:00 P.M. Friday, August 5th at The Hamil Family Funeral Home with Ron Ballard officiating. Burial will follow at the Highland Cemetery in Stamford, Texas. Serving as pallbearers will be Casey Williams, Brad Kerr, Jake Jenkins, Nick Heim, Trey Harris & Kent Frick.