Ruth E. Webber

Ruth was born in East Branch, New York on June 28, 1912, and grew up in Middleton, New York. She attended Syracuse University, receiving a B.A. in Music in 1934. She sang on live-radio shows, and was an accomplished pianist. In 1944, she married Charles Tew Webber. The couple lived in El Paso before moving to Austin, where they bred Arabian horses. They were among the first to breed Arabians in the Austin area and she was a member of the Arabian Horse Club. Ruth worked as a professional librarian at the University of Texas for many years. She was an avid supporter of the Lady Longhorns women’s basketball team, and swam regularly at Gregory Gym well into her 80’s. She was a member of St. Theresa's Catholic Church, and before that, Sacred Heart Catholic Church where she was a longtime member of Fr. Paul Osterle's Sacred Scripture Study Group. Her devotion to and membership in the study group continued even after she relocated and joined St. Theresa's parish. Ruth loved and supported the arts, especially the opera and symphony. She frequently attended St. Edward's University’s theatre performances. In her 70’s, she took up ballroom dancing and competed in dance events around the U.S., often garnering top awards. Ruth was also a volunteer for many organizations, including The American Red Cross, The Austin Diagnostic Clinic, Meals on Wheels and The Holy Cross Hospital Auxiliary. She was awarded lifetime membership in the Chisholm Wolf Foundation, Inc. for her support of efforts to help save the Endangered North American Timber Wolf from extinction. Ruth will be remembered as a life-long learner with a vivacious personality, an adventurous spirit, a keen intellect, and a great sense of humor. For the past ten years she was a cherished resident of Emeritus on Spicewood Springs Road.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Charles Tew Webber; her parents, John Thomas Gardner and Hermene LeMaitre; brothers John Paul Gardner and Charles Wesley Gardner; and sister Adelia (Delia) Gardner. She was godmother to Elizabeth Danze and Fred Danze, and for 50 years she remained a close friend of the entire Danze family of Austin, who affectionately called her “Aunt Ruth.” Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from two o’clock until four o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday, the 27th of February, with a Rosary to be recited at three o’clock in the afternoon Cook Walden Funeral Home, 6100 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin. A funeral mass will be conducted on Monday, the 28th of February at ten o’clock in the morning at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, 4311 Small Drive, Austin, Texas, 78731. Internment and graveside services will be conducted at forty-five minutes past nine o’clock in the morning on Tuesday, the 1st of March at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, TX. Condolences may be left at www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com