Ruth Laverne Brown Daniell Kliewer

At 12:06 on the morning of October 17, 2020, Ruth Brown Daniell Kliewer's long battle with Alzheimer's came to an end. Ruth had a unique life that began on August 13, 1938 in Liberty Hill, Texas, the fourth of seven children born to Wesley and Merle Mather Brown. The Browns raised their children on a small farm in the beautiful Texas Hill country, growing cotton and other crops. Ruth related stories of churning butter from their cows, feeding the pigs and chickens, and picking cotton, but her favorite stories were of her participation on her high school girl's basketball team. She was a sport's enthusiast her whole life, enjoying NFL football, especially the Dallas Cowboys, and NBA basketball, featuring the San Antonio Spurs.

Upon high school graduation, she married John Harvey Daniell, with whom she had 4 sons. That marriage ended while the boys were still very young, and she was left with raising the children alone. Realizing her job as a waitress wasn't going to be enough to clothe and feed her family, she enrolled in Nursing School in Temple, Texas, and became an RN. It was extremely difficult, but her faith in God, and sheer determination got her through. A few years later, she met and married Ray Kliewer, who helped her raise the boys with a firm hand and strong religious conviction. All of the boys served in the military, and became productive members of society. Ruth started over with child rearing when her oldest son, who was a single parent of two school aged daughters, suddenly died of a heart ailment.

Ruth and Ray, after years of sampling small towns in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, finally settled in Elk City Oklahoma, where Ray, a lab technologist, retired, and Ruth became a night supervisor of a small hospital. She worked at that hospital until she was 70 years old, when symptoms of dementia forced her retirement. Her oldest remaining son, Mike, went up to Oklahoma, and brought her to San Antonio, while Ray's daughters assumed care of their dad, who was also declining.

This was the beginning of the final chapter of Ruth's life, but the one that Mike treasures the most. Ruth lived with Mike and Carol for nine years, which to some may have seemed a burden, but it was a time where Mike learned so much about his mother. Given the opportunity to exist without responsibilities, Ruth blossomed into the person that was always there, but Mike had never known. He enjoyed private time with her every morning, over coffee. He loves to tell people he never knew how funny she was, becoming almost like a stand up comedian at times. She was very insightful, and had many stories to tell; about the hard life growing up on the farm, and her high school activities; the wild ride of a marriage to the father of her children and the fascinating history of her family, who descended from Scottish immigrants and Native Americans, who were prominent in the settling of Liberty Hill, Texas. She had a fondness for retelling the story of gathering bristles from a particular bush every Spring for a Native American grandmother, who used them to make herself a new, annual toothbrush. This same grandmother relayed stories passed through the generations, of the family's trek across the country on the "Trail of Tears." Ruth claimed to have seen the actual horse that belonged to her grandfather, the famed Texas Ranger, Andy Mather, and although it seemed impossible, I have seen a photograph of said horse and her grandfather. As her disease progressed, the stories changed a bit, but were equally entertaining.

She enjoyed a good quality of life for nearly nine years, until her confusion made it impossible to care for her at home any longer. She made the call herself, saying she thought it was time for a nursing home, although when we actually carried out the deed, she told her new caregivers that "Mike dropped me off and left me here." This was a particularly guilt provoking statement, but her thought processes didn't transfer from day to day, or even hour to hour, and we felt justified in placing her in the care of a very competent and loving family. It was the right thing to do.

Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, Ray Kliewer; her parents, Wesley, and Merle Brown; her brother, David Brown, her sister, Louise Brown Jordan, and her oldest son, Charles Daniell. She is survived by her three loving sons, Mike Daniell (Carol,) Steve Daniell (Renae,) and Greg Daniell (Sheri,) two step daughters, Sheryl Kliewer Slight and Theresa Kliewer Badgett, and many grandchildren, including Heather Daniell McCormick, (Andrew,) and Erica Daniell Wilkinson (Erik,) both of whom she raised upon the death of their father. Other grandchildren are Christopher Morro, Johnathan Daniell, Melinda Daniell Hammonds, Austin Daniell, Katherine Daniell, and Brandon Daniell; and many great grandchildren and nieces and nephews.

Special thanks go to the the family of Gabriel and Marcella Gambos, who provided excellent and loving care to Ruth until her death.

There will be a graveside service at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery.