Ruth Jean Lawrence

Ruth Jean Hannan Lawrence, 91, went to be with her Lord on Friday, August 22, 2014. Services will be 11 a.m. Tuesday, August 26, at Connally Compton Funeral Directors, on Waco Drive. Viewing will be 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, August 25, at the funeral home.

Ruth was born June 3, 1923 in Chillicothe, Ohio to Edmund and Savilla Ross Hannan. She was the firstborn of eight children. She met the love of her life when she was 15 in Bellaire, Ohio. They were married the following year and began their life together. They moved from Ohio to Waco, Texas in 1964 where her husband Paul Lawrence pastored Christian Believers Fellowship Church until the 1980's. They were members of Victorious Life Church after her husband retired.

Ruth was unable to attend church due to her health for the last few years of her life. In her last year of her life, she enjoyed regular visits from the ladies at Meadowbrook Baptist Church. She was told she always brought a smile to the ladies faces. She never knew a person she didn't love. Ruth considered everyone her family and she had a smile that could always warm your heart. She was the "coolest old lady ever!"

She was preceded in death by her parents; her loving husband of 50 years, Paul Lawrence; her brothers, Robert Hannan and Richard Hannan; her sister, Alberta Porter; and her youngest son, William Lawrence.

She is survived by four sisters; daughter, Vera Zidermanis and husband, Auseklis, of Waco; son, Paul D. Lawrence of Uniontown, Pennsylvania; daughters, Paula Harris and Dana Rhodes, both of Waco; son, Larry Lawrence and daughter-in-law Bertha Lawrence, of Elm Mott; 29 grandchildren; and many many great and great-great-grandchildren.

She was the "greatest" grandmother we have ever known. We will miss the "Queen" of our small nation.

The family would like to thank the Hospice at St. Catherine's for their compassion and understanding in our time of sorrow. They went above and beyond to make the family comfortable and help with anything and everything keeping her comfortable during her stay at their facility. They would also like to thank the nurses at Providence Hospital for their loving care.

Arrangements under the direction of Connally-Compton Funeral Directors, Waco, TX.