Ruth Kleckley Hoover

Ruth Kleckley Hoover passed peacefully to glory on June 27, 2026, just two weeks shy of her 96th birthday. She was born on July 13, 1930, to Reuben and Maude (Keisler) Kleckley and weighed less than two pounds at birth. When Maude died the next day, Reuben’s sister Bertha (Kleckley) Smith and her husband Willie Jesse Smith stepped in to raise and care for the infant. Reuben later married Genevieve (Lindsey) Kleckley who loved Ruth as her own daughter. Ruth often said although her birth mother died so early, the Lord blessed her with many other mothers to love her, including Bertha Smith, Genevieve Kleckley, and her mother-in-law, Naomi Berry.

Ruth graduated from Brookland Cayce High School in 1947 and served on the Reunion Committee for every year thereafter. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1951 with a BS degree in Secretarial Science, and was Copy Editor of the “Gamecock.” She was an active member of Brookland United Methodist Church since 1938, serving as a Sunday School teacher, Historian, member of the Chancel Choir, the United Methodist Women of the local church and the Columbia District, the adult chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Jubilant Singers. She retired as a legal secretary in 1988.

Always enjoying family fellowship, she updated names, addresses, and information of the Keislers, the Kleckleys, and the Smiths and scheduled lunch “get togethers” for cousins in each family group. Ruth was known affectionately as the “Cat Lady” who raised and found homes for many kittens and loved anything with a cat on it. She was the “Basket Lady” who made baskets of vines, pinestraw, reed, wire, kudzu, etc. She was the “Bread Lady” making sour dough bread for communion services and to share with others. Ruth was also known as “Boofie,” a name given to her by her sister/cousin, Sylvia (Metz) Weeks, whom she called “Squeakie.” The grandchildren and great-grands called Ruth “Boofie” and loved to enjoy her homemade “Boofie bread.”

Ruth was predeceased in March, 2016, by her husband of 65 years, James Ray Hoover, and her son, Lee Alan Hoover in February, 2025; her brother and sister-in-law, James W. (Jim) and Judy Kleckley, and sister-in-law, Hazel H. Laird. For three years, Ruth was part of the community at The Columbia Presbyterian Home but more recently enjoyed the company of friends and staff at Westminster Memory Care in Lexington.

Family members surviving to cherish her memory are her daughter, Julie (Craig) Houston; two grandchildren: Mark (Ashley) Houston and Lauren (Add) Wilson; and five great-grandchildren: Addison G. Wilson III, Houston Zachary Wilson, Emily Ruth Wilson, Evans Elizabeth Houston and Mae Caroline Houston.

The burial will be private, but a celebration of Ruth’s life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Music Ministry or the Media Ministry at First Baptist Church, Columbia, SC.