Ruth Martin Sizemore Riley

Ruth Martin Sizemore Riley was called home by our Lord and passed peacefully from this life into His Everlasting Arms on Friday, September 30, 2016. Ruth was born on December 19, 1927 to parents, Alvira and John Martin in Brownsville, Texas. Before she started grade school, she moved with her family to Lufkin, Texas and graduated from Lufkin High School. She loved growing up at Jones Lake in Lufkin and had many good memories from that period of her life. Her family always enjoyed hearing the fun stories from her childhood there.

Ruth married her true love, Edgar James Sizemore on December 23, 1945. Their first child Evelyn was born while James was stationed in Okinawa, Japan at the end of World War II. In 1951, when their son Martin was stricken with polio at 23 months old, Ruth and James rushed him to Houston for medical care. They remained in Houston united in the healthcare needs of their family.

Ruth’s husband James was taken by cancer in 1962, and while widowed at 34, and devastated by her loss, Ruth showed great determination and strength rearing her two children and continuing to meet the significant medical needs of her son. In 1967, Ruth married Leslie Riley and they enjoyed many years together. After Les suffered a severe stroke, Ruth personally cared for him the last eleven years of their life together. During this time, Ruth enrolled in Bible Study Fellowship and became a serious student of God’s Word.

A caregiver most of her adult life, Ruth was a genuinely selfless and humble person who always put the needs of her family first. She accepted life as it presented itself without complaint and her spirited zest for life was apparent to everyone. She was a fiercely dedicated wife and mother who passionately loved all of her family.

After her love for the Lord, spending time with family was what Ruth treasured most in life. Her husbands, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, parents, siblings and many nieces and nephews were the joy of her life. Ruth left a tremendous legacy of integrity, honesty, humility, loyalty, devotion and strength. With a servant’s heart, she lived a life of faith by example and will be greatly missed by all who loved her.

In 2003, Ruth moved from Houston to Austin where she courageously fought a thirteen-year battle with dementia. Her family is thankful she has finally been released from that journey and is now forever in the presence of Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior. The family offers deepest gratitude and thanks for the help, kindness and generosity of caregiver Esther Vasquez and later the staff at The Cottages at Chandler Creek and Resolution Hospice for their devotion and care during this difficult time.

Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, Edgar James Sizemore; husband, Leslie Riley; son, Martin Ed Sizemore; parents, Alvira and John Martin; brothers, Glenn Martin and Ellis Fesler; and sisters, Lorene Levy, Wynona Turner and Mabel McDonald.

Ruth is survived by her daughter, Evelyn Sizemore Diamond and husband Roger of Austin; grandson, Scott Diamond and wife, Angelia of Leander; grandson, Jason Diamond and wife, Tandy of Dallas; grandsons, Richard, Brandon and Jonathon Sizemore, all of California; great grandchildren, Carson, Sloane, and Kennedy Diamond, of Leander and Kathryn, Olivia and Max Diamond, of Dallas; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 8, 2016 followed by the funeral service at 3:00 p.m. in the Elwyn M. Gipson Memorial Chapel on the grounds of the Garden of Memories Memorial Park at 5205 South First Street, Lufkin, Texas. Interment will follow immediately after.

Pallbearers will be Roger Diamond, Scott Diamond, Jason Diamond, Carson Diamond, Roy Fesler and Glenn Martin, Jr.

Condolences may be offered at www.gipsonfuneralhome.com

Services have been placed in the trust of Gipson Funeral Home.