Beverly Ruhl Merryman

The 1930s was a period of great misery and calamity for the nation because of the Great Depression but it was exacerbated in Kansas and the rest of the Midwest due to the drought that gripped the land for almost the entire decade. John Hull was more fortunate than some because he had steady work with the railroad. Beverly said he would always pay the grocery bill on Fridays and buy candy which he would hide when he came home for the children to find. She said, he would tell her where to find it because she was the baby of the family.

Beverly was the youngest of five siblings: Doris Pettibon, Betty Hull, Dena Willfong and Paul Hull.

She would grow up in Fort Scott but spend her early life on both sides of the Kansas/Missouri line. The same line that separated red leg Jayhawkers from Quantrill and his Missouri Raiders in an earlier age. This must have had something to do with the highly competitive personality she would exhibit most of her life. She was a very outgoing and happy young girl. She was voted class president in Junior High, was a cheerleader in High School and played clarinet in the band.

Beverly was married to Bob Madden from 1953 to 1965. They would begin their life together in Fort Scott which is where Connie, Teri, Rebecca, and Troy were born. They would eventually move to Salina, Kansas where Bob sold tires for the Firestone Company and Beverly was a homemaker. Beverly recalled her joy of sewing clothes for the children when they were young.

She was married to Leroy Nicholas “Duke” Ruhl from 1970-1994. In his youth, Duke had been a Golden Gloves Champion out of Kansas City. They lived in Harrisonville, Missouri where Duke worked for the now defunct Nickerson Farms restaurant chain which were mostly located along Interstate highways in the Midwest. This would be the beginning of a lifelong vocation in the restaurant business for the family. Nichol was born in Harrisonville.

Beverly and Duke would later move to Butler, Missouri and become owners of a Tastee Freeze Drive-In restaurant, which they renamed to Duke’s Drive-in. Teri, Rebecca and Troy recall experiences working in their parents’ restaurant which they have never forgotten. Coleman was born in Butler.

In 1979, the family moved to Texas and purchased The Pit BBQ on 5th Street in downtown Austin. Beverly ran the back office and dining area while Duke did his magic with the smoke. Duke passed away in January of 1994 and The Pit was sold. Years later, it would end up in the footprint of the Hilton Hotel, Nichol remembers her Dad telling her that one day a hotel chain would come wanting to buy the land that the Pit sat on and that they would make a killing, well it happened but not until after he died.

Beverly was married to Norman Merryman from 1995-2023; this was probably the most relaxing chapter of her life. They met at Don’s Depot and were soon inseparable. Beverly had started avidly playing golf with Duke in Missouri and was very skilled and very competitive (just ask her friends!). The love of golf continued with Norm.They were members of the Balcones Country Club and made frequent trips to golfing meccas in Arizona and South Carolina and even attended the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia one spring when the magnolias were in bloom.

But age sneaks up on little cats’ feet and Beverly was no exception. She had suffered bronchial maladies in her youth which had caused scarring in her lungs. This would resurface as COPD and all the attendant problems later in her life. Norman was by her side through all of it. Never flinched. Never quit. Always by her side. You’re a saint Norman Merryman.

She performed various jobs throughout her life: bookkeeper, office manager, and administrative assistant. She loved telling jokes, laughing and having fun. Bridge became an important part of her life when she could no longer physically play golf. This was the primary connection to her continuing circle of friends late in her life.

But her favorite role was as mother, homemaker - like sewing clothes for her daughters, decorating her home, and entertaining family and friends. The basic stuff of home and hearth.

Beverly Hull Madden Ruhl Merryman was a handful (again, just ask her friends!). She was opinionated to a fault. She could be as competitive as a grizzly bear in a campground. She was quick with advice to her children and their spouses. She could spot a drape a quarter inch out of level from across a foyer and a great room! But she could charm the pants off a Ringling Brothers clown. She will be remembered as wife, as sister, as mother, as grandmother, as great-grandmother (aka Granny-Great)and as a friend.

She specifically expressed the desire that everyone knows she loved the Lord with all her heart. Her mother took her to the Church of God in Fort Scott every Sunday morning and night and on Wednesday night as well.

She is survived by her husband Norman and his two daughters, Joyce Reavis and Alice Merryman, her six children, Connie Penelle, Teri Porter, Rebecca Strasner, Troy Madden, Nikki O’Quinn, Cole Ruhl, eleven grandchildren, 4 step grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, 4 sons in law, one daughter in law as well as her older sister, Dena Wilfong who resides in Florida