Ruth Elizabeth Braun

Ruth Elizabeth "Betty" Braun, age 92, died on October 1, 2026, in Norman, Oklahoma. Betty was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 3, 1933, to Henry W. Hundley and Ruth A. (Beasley) Hundley. She was a 1951 graduate of Normandy High School and attended Southeast Missouri State Teachers College (Cape), where she was a member of the Clio Society, Terpsichore modern dance club and the Women’s Athletic Association for basketball and field hockey.

While in high school and then at Cape, she found the love of her life, William K. George (Bill) Braun. The two of them enjoyed many afternoons on dates at Cape Rock, watching the Mississippi River flow south. Betty and Bill were married on May 29, 1954, in St. Louis. Bill had recently been commissioned as a pilot in the U.S. Navy, and their honeymoon was spent driving to his first squadron in Brunswick, Maine.

Betty loved being the wife of a career naval aviator and she enjoyed the camaraderie, support and social lifestyle that came with it. Five children came in quick succession early in their marriage and Betty was the consummate mom to them while moving across the United States multiple times with the Navy. Like many Navy wives of her day, Betty was both mother and father to her family when Bill was deployed at sea or overseas on long deployments. She never complained and her children were especially close to their mother who did it all.

After raising five children, Betty graduated from the University of Memphis, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1975 and later a master’s degree in education. She spent most of her career teaching at Millington Middle School in the Shelby County, Tennessee, school system, where she relished teaching science to middle school students. Betty drove her beloved Ford Mustang to school most days while wearing her trademark high-heeled shoes that she wore in the classroom nearly every day.

She was an accomplished seamstress, a skill she learned from her mother, and she enjoyed sewing dresses, suits and costumes for her children while also making window treatments for every new home she moved into. Betty was an avid gardener who always had a surplus of homegrown vegetables that she generously shared with friends and family. She was an outstanding cook who loved to entertain, always opening her home and sharing her time with those who were special to her.

Betty was a wonderful mother-in-law who welcomed her sons’ wives into the family and loved them as her own daughters. She was a loving and energetic grandmother and great-grandmother and spent as much time as possible with the children. She and Bill especially enjoyed taking their grandchildren camping and boating, memories that they carry to this day.

After retirement, they moved to Norman, Oklahoma, where they were active members at First Presbyterian Church. Betty and Bill traveled and camped extensively throughout the United States, visiting all 50 states and many of the national parks. Betty became an avid fan of the University of Oklahoma and was a season ticket holder for the football team, the women’s softball and the women’s basketball teams. Always a teacher, she was volunteer docent for 19 years at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, where she was a member of the second class of docents. She was deeply committed to the museum's mission and passionate about science education and inspiring young people to learn about the natural world.

Betty is survived by her husband of 72 years, Bill. Theirs was a marriage of deep love, mutual respect, challenges, humor and adventure. She is survived by three children, Janet Braun of Norman, Oklahoma; Steven Braun (Janet) of Statham, Georgia; and Robert Braun (Vicki) of Thompson’s Station, Tennessee; daughter-in-law Carol Braun of Springfield, Tennessee; as well as seven grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her sons William George Braun and David Wade Braun, as well as her two sisters, Mary Hundley Walter Vanhoose and Alice Hundley Constantz.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. The family would like to thank Dr. Thomas Merrill, the staff of Grace Skilled Nursing and Therapy of Norman, and Good Shepherd Hospice for their care and compassion of our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.

Donations in Betty’s memory may be made to First Presbyterian Church, 555 South University Blvd, Norman, OK 73069, or in support of the Sam Noble Museum Volunteer Programs and General Operations Fund (#32850) at the University of Oklahoma. Checks made payable to the "University of Oklahoma Foundation" may be mailed to: The University of Oklahoma Foundation, P.O. Box 258856, Oklahoma City, OK 73125-8856.