Ruthe M. Verdery

Verdery, Ruthe M. Ruthe M. Verdery passed away peacefully in her sleep at 11:43p.m. on Friday, May 11th, 2007 . The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 19th, at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, 305 N. 30th in Waco, the Rev. Jeff Fisher officiating. A luncheon reception will follow in the Parish Hall. Ruthe was born on October 17th, 1916, in Yoakum, Texas, to Sydney Bedford McCawley and Alice Ruth Foote. Her mother passed away when Ruthe was two. A year later, her father married Bonnie Norwood, and the family moved to Waco, where Ruthe lived the rest of her life. She was a 1937 Baylor University graduate who began her career as an educator at LaVega High School. After that, she spent many years with WISD, teaching a variety of subjects at a number of different schools. She believed that an important part of teaching was continually learning, so she earned her Master’s Degree in International Relations at UT-Austin, returned to Baylor twice to receive certification in Special Education and then Library Sciences, and took a course in Biblical languages at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. She closed her 45-year career in education as Director of Library Processing for WISD. Even after retirement, Ruthe continued to serve her community in many different ways. She loved volunteering at Providence Hospital. She held presidencies at the Altar Guild at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, St. Alban’s ECW, and the Mu Rho chapter of Beta Sigma Phi. For the last nine years, Ruthe’s “Greeting Card Ministry” provided spiritual encouragement to hundreds of people for whom she created unique cards with personalized messages that often became keepsakes to those who received them. A special display of Ruthe’s cards, as well as photographic memories of her life, will be featured at the reception. Ruthe was preceded in death by her beloved husband Paul, two days after renewing their vows at their 38th anniversary party in 1980. She is survived by her daughter Virginia Gini Bortz and her husband, Garry, of Campbell, California and their two sons, Brennon and Ryan; her son, Richard, and his wife, Beverly Belknap, of Normal, Illinois, and their three children, Laura, Scott, and Suzanne, who is married to Nick Dell, with one child, Jacob; and son, David, and his partner, Curtis Cannon. David was formerly married to Randy Mahan, and together they have one child, Rod, who is married to Karen Walczyk and their four children, Lucas, Alexis, Hanna and Elijah. While there are innumerable people to thank for their individual contributions to Ruthe’s ability to live in her home until she passed, a special thanks goes to Leti Conde and Norma Veloz for their many years of loving assistance. The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be sent to Talitha Koum Institute, 1311 Clay Avenue, Waco, Texas 76706, or Mission Waco, 1315 N. 15th Street, Waco, Texas.