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Ruth Ann (Sanders) Ward was born April 30, 1943 in Chicago, IL. She departed this life, at the age of 82, on June 13, 2025 at home with her family in Stroud, OK. Ruth was the daughter of Opal Lois (Hill) Sanders and Ben Sanders. She was raised in Kendrick, OK and graduated from Kendrick High School in 1961. She married her high school sweetheart, Donivan Hixon, and to this union, two children were born; Gerald Hixon and Lynita Hixon. She later married James Lewis Ward until his passing in 2020.
First and foremost, Ruth Ann loved the Lord. She spent her entire life in church and even began playing the piano in church when she was only 13. As an adult, she spent many years playing the piano at the Stroud Christian Church, then played for Maranatha Christian Center and the First Free Will Baptist Church. She always made sure that her children and grandchildren attended church, and she lived a life that exemplified her faith. In her later years, she attended the Stroud First Assembly of God.
Ruth Ann was raised on a farm in Kendrick, OK. She learned the value of hard work at a very early age and kept those values throughout her life. Despite being widowed as a young mother, she raised her children, worked various jobs to provide for them, and eventually became a registered nurse. She loved as hard as she worked! Being Mom and Gramma were her absolute favorite jobs! She was the glue of her family; always encouraging, setting a Godly example, and instilling good old-fashioned values. She was wise and intelligent, but also witty and a little ornery. Her desire was for her loved ones to live their lives with joy and purpose.
Being a nurse was more than a job or career for Ruth Ann; it was her life. She was a natural born care-giver and helper! She was the one her family and friends called before they went to the doctor. She was well-known in central Oklahoma because she had taken care of so many people throughout her career. She worked in hospitals, home health care, hospice, and the health department, and received many honors and awards; including Boss of the Year in 1997 when she worked for the hospice program she helped establish; Lincoln County Hospice.
Ruth Ann was the epitome of the Proverbs 31 Woman; She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all!
Ruth Ann is survived by her sister; Carolyn Sue Newnam, children; son, Gerald Hixon and daughter, Lynita Hixon, grandchildren; Ashley Patterson, Gerald (& wife Annie) Hixon, Taylor Brownlee, and Kaylan (& husband Dalton) Maston, great-grandchildren; Destiny Hixon, Asher Hixon, Tonya Hixon, Haven Hixon, Kaleb Hixon, and Ruth Jane Hixon, her faithful canine companion; Riva, and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, sister; Wanda (& Glen) Bierman, sister; Ruby Jewel Sanders, brother; Kenneth (& Pat) Sanders, B.I.L. John Newnam, husband; Donivan Hixon, and husband; James Ward.
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