Ruth Collier Gross

Mary 'Ruth' Collier Gross 2/25/1933 – 3/26/2020 This is the story of Mary Ruth (Collier) Gross. She preferred to be called Ruth since teenage years. Very few people really knew her first name was Mary. Ruth was a wonderful woman that was loved, adored, and cherished by everyone she ever met. Our Ruth was an amazing person, sister, aunt, daughter, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, wife, teacher, mentor and friend. Ruth's story starts on February 25, 1933, the youngest child to William Joshua and Drucilla (Tittle) Collier. Ruth was born on a farm in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. When Ruth was still young, she and her six older siblings helped on the farm by picking cotton and raising pigs. William and Drucilla moved their family to Kennett, Missouri in the mid 1940's. There, Ruth would spend her childhood and go to school. When sharing stories about her younger years, Ruth often spoke of her job as a waitress at the local restaurant. It is during that time she learned about interacting with people and how to excel in service to others. These skills she carried and applied to every circumstance throughout her life. When just 16 years old, 1949, Ruth met Chester Gross, Jr at a skating rink in Kennett, Missouri. Chester and Ruth had a whirlwind romance and were married on May 6, 1950. As the Korean War began, Chester received orders to San Diego Naval Air Station, then Hawaii, then Okinawa. Ruth stayed in Hawaii during that time. Ruth was only 19 and alone when Chester received orders to go home to Missouri due to serious illness of his mother. Eventually the Navy helped Ruth secure a ship to bring her back to the mainland and take a train back to Missouri. Her next oldest sibling and best friend Margie was on her way to get Ruth when Margie and her husband Elmer were killed in a plane crash. Ruth mourned for Margie the rest of her life. As the war ended, Chester and Ruth settled back in Malden, Missouri. A few months later, Chester and Ruth built their own house together. Chester and Ruth welcomed their first daughter, Brenda Kaye Gross in October 1955. Chester's job relocated them to Colorado where they welcomed their second daughter Lori Lee Gross in January 1959. Traveling with their small family through the western pacific territory, Chester and Ruth settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1962. Relocating to Houston in 1969, Chester and Ruth decided they loved the area. They settled into a townhome in Kingwood, Texas in the mid 1970s where they lived for over 40 years until moving in with their youngest daughter, Lori, to a new home in New Caney built just for them. In 1965, Ruth found tennis and within a year, won her first of a few national titles. Everything about tennis was natural for Ruth. Ruth's love for tennis and deep connections with people allowed her to become a strong presence in the professional tennis industry. She began teaching tennis in the mid 1970s. Ruth traveled around the country giving tennis clinics and sharing life lessons to everyone she met. Thousands of people say Ruth had a tremendous positive impact on their lives. At the young age of 76, Ruth retired from teaching tennis after 40 years. During the 1980s Ruth studied at a Bible College. She took classes on bible history and theology. First Baptist Church in Porter, Texas asked her to teach the College and Career class which she gladly agreed. Many godly relationships were formed with those young people and those relationships prospered through the rest of her life. Her faith was apparent to all and she always gave God all the glory for the road she traveled. Ruth was renowned for her striking appearance. People she came across in public would stop in a store, restaurant, doctor's office, or anywhere she went to remark on her hair or jewelry and would soon become lifelong friends. She had a saying, "a stranger is a friend I haven't met yet". Everyone always knew they would have plenty of fun laughing and reminiscing with the great conversation and spending time together with Ruth. Ruth adored butterflies, hearts, and feathers. She decorated her clothes, her house, and her life with them as a constant reminder of God's precious gifts. Ruth taught and encouraged people to love others and not to be afraid to express care and concern and encouragement to anyone and everyone. The Gross family enjoyed car travel during the younger years and saw a lot of scenery of the west and southwest. She enjoyed Yellowstone National Park and the Painted Desert as well as the Grand Canyon. Ruth loved the Zuni Indian jewelry and became great friends with one man who came to be a famous artist and personally made Ruth a collection of Zuni needlepoint jewelry. Ruth considered this one of her most prize possessions. If there was anywhere Ruth loved to be, it was with her family. She requested they spend time together at every opportunity. She knew that is where she always felt the most at peace during life. Ruth absolutely adored her daughters and three granddaughters and great grandson. They were the light of her life and her heart and joy. There is no denying that they were the people that she loved the most. Rejoicing in heaven with her siblings, parents, and daughter Brenda Kaye Russell, Ruth will be watching over loved ones that will miss her until they meet again. Her devoted husband, Chester Gross, Jr cherishes the wonderful memories of almost 70 years together. Others that will miss her include her daughter, Lori (Gross) Weber; her granddaughters Marissa Gross, Elizabeth Weber, and Colleen Weber; her great grandson Jaden Gross. Others include many cousins, nieces, and nephews she had grown close to. She will be sadly missed by many dear lifelong friends.