Ruby Jean Putnam Browder

1905 - 2007

Ruby Jean Putnam Browder, 102, a retired city of Carrollton employee, died Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007.
Funeral: 10 a.m. Monday, Wildwood Chapel, Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, the Rev. David Fletcher officiating. Interment: Restland.
Ruby was born Jan. 21, 1905, in Neshoba County, Miss., the second of six children born to Oscar and Tempe Putnam.
She attended public schools in Mississippi.
The family moved to Texas and on Oct. 20, 1926, she married Joe L. Browder. They lived in Rio Vista, Joshua and Aledo and raised eight children.
In 1950, she moved to Carrollton and was employed at Inca Metals, Neiman Marcus and retired as director of the Carrollton Recreation Center.
Upon retirement at age 65, Ruby took lessons in art, auto mechanics and swimming. She enjoyed fashioning lovely crochet and knitted items and created beautiful paintings.
Ruby excelled in music, including piano, quartet and choral singing, enjoyed vegetable gardening, working with plants and shrubbery and mowing her lawn through age 94.
She continued living independently in her Carrollton home until she was 99 and a half years of age.
Ruby excelled in English, spelling, grammar and punctuation and enjoyed crossword puzzles.
Recently, while hospitalized following a stroke at age 102, a nurse questioned her to determine the extent of her disability.
To the question, "Can you say the alphabet?" --she surprised the nurse by reciting the alphabet backwards.
Ruby's greatest joy was her family of eight children, 21 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren, as well as the husbands and wives they brought into the family. She loved them and was proud of their educational and career accomplishments.
She was also proud of her roots in American history. One of her ancestors participated in the American Revolution and her grandfather was a Confederate soldier.
She was a member of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Carrollton and a member of the Mary Isham Keith Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
As long as she was physically able, Ruby was active in her church and community events. She enjoyed sharing her time, talent and modest resources with others.
Ruby will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.
The family wishes to thank the employees of Senior Adult Services of Carrollton, Evergreen at Hulen Bend and The Courtyards at Fort Worth for their kindness and care during recent years.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers; sisters; her daughter, Mariellen Browder Farris; son, Dr. James Thomas Browder; grandson, David Browder; and granddaughter, Jan Browder.
Survivors: Sons, Robert H. Browder and wife, Betsy, Bennie G. Browder, Gerald H. Browder, Lyle M. Browder and wife, Diane; daughters, Wilma Jo Putteet and Charlotte French and husband, Philip; 19 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; nieces; nephews; and many special friends, including C.A. Glover, Billie Sewell, Deloris Layman and Maryann Courson.