Ruth Jennifer Brouse Bauer

1946 - 2016

Ruth Jennifer Brouse Bauer
1946-2016
Ruth Jennifer Brouse Bauer, 69, of Houston, Texas, a beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister and grandmother passed peacefully at home to be with the Lord on the eve of Sunday the 28th of February 2016.
Ruth was born to Erma Grace Brouse and the late Charles Ellwood Brouse on the 4th of June 1946, in Baltimore, Maryland. She and her older brother, Charles Ellwood Brouse, Jr. were raised on the shore of the Chesapeake. Ruth took an early interest in music which was fostered by her parents. She learned to play the piano from the pianist at the Inverness Presbyterian Church in Dundalk, Maryland, a church that her mother, father, grandmother, aunts and uncles founded in 1938. There she was very involved in teaching Sunday School. She was a gifted vocalist and loved to volunteer as the church soloist for weddings. Ruth graduated from Sparrows Point Sr. High School, Sparrows Point, Maryland in 1964 while concurrently pursuing her passion for music, studying voice at Peabody Preparatory, in Baltimore, Maryland. After high school, Ruth studied business at Strayer College where she received a degree while working as the Executive Secretary to the President of Hill-Chase Steel Company. Continuing in her music she then received a bachelor's degree in piano from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland in 1968, where in 2010 the Ruth Brouse Bauer Scholarship in Piano was established in her honor. She was titled Miss Baltimore and was runner up in the Miss Maryland Beauty Pageant in 1967. While working, in Baltimore for Legg, Inc. (Legg Mason) in 1969, she met Charles Theodore (Ted) Bauer who was then a Vice President of USF&G. They wed in April of 1971 in Annapolis, Maryland. Thereafter Ruth and Ted relocated to Texas when Ted accepted an offer from Gus Wortham to join American General Insurance Company. They made a home of the Tanglewood neighborhood area in Houston and had one son, Charles Douglas Bauer.
Ruth joined First Presbyterian Church, where she taught Sunday School and sang in the choir. She taught piano at home to local school aged children while she and Ted prepared for the unknown as Ted and his partners started a small investment firm called American International Management, the name of which was later condensed to AIM. The company grew over the years into the seventh largest mutual fund company in the world at the time of Ted's death in 2004. In 1999 Ruth became a member of St. Martin's Episcopal Church of Houston close to their home of almost 30 years. Ruth was well known by friends and family for her cooking, her graceful ability to entertain and the care and love she showed them. Through the years Ruth was passionate about making a difference in the lives of children. She volunteered her time to many worthy causes and always made herself available to others. She was a board member of the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center and The Boys and Girls Harbor of LaPorte, Texas. At the Harbor and elsewhere, she was active in taking an interest in the lives of young people. She was always encouraging them to stay in school and pursue a college degree, often getting involved with at risk youth's planning, preparation and application process. When they would say, "I won't be able to afford that," she would smile and say "we'll find a way." She always found a way forward for them through scholarships, financial aid, raising money, military service, helping them find jobs, and at times paying herself, or a combination thereof. Ruth is remembered as a talented, kind and loving person with a keen sense of humor and a certain elegance.
Ruth and Ted along with their son Douglas founded the Ruth and Ted Bauer Family Foundation in 1997. Since that time the foundation has distributed grants to many deserving schools in the Houston area, addressing children and their education needs. Amongst Ruth's favorite recipients are the Boys and Girls Harbor, Chinquapin Preparatory School, Small Steps Nurturing Center, YES College Preparatory School and Yellowstone Academy.
In recent years with her health in decline, she loved reminiscing with family and friends about joyous times. Cherished memories such as working summer nights at the reception desk for the Maryland Inn in Ocean City, Maryland in order to spend days on the beach enjoying what the boardwalk had to offer and using nights off to play piano in a local band. As a girl she loved the dances she and her friends would attend at the local firehouse, in New Windsor, Maryland, with coats, helmets and hoses adorning the walls. Most of all she shared her memories as a young mother and the love she feels for her son, Douglas.
Ruth was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Theodore Bauer, and her father, Charles Ellwood Brouse, Sr. She is survived by her son, Charles Douglas Bauer and his wife, Reagan Jones Bauer and her grandson, Charles Douglas Bauer, Jr. of Houston, Texas; her mother, Erma Ruth Brouse and her brother, Charles Ellwood Brouse Jr. and his wife Catherine Nohe Brouse of Baltimore, Maryland.; her nephews, Charles Ellwood Brouse III and his wife Deanna Heinzman Brouse of Fairfax, Virginia, and Joseph Harrison Brouse and Amy Miller Brouse, and their children, Gavin Alexander Brouse and Lukas Harrison Brouse, of Nottingham, Maryland.
The family would like to give special thanks to Ruth's caregivers – Nurses Dee Bilton, Anita Bates, Araceli Vela, Ariel Shakesnider, Joy Mirasol, Monica Berry, Lisa Blackmon-Jones and Sherrie Collier; Nurse Aides Rita Farley, Angela Baldwin, Annesette Chambers, Vandam Burke and Ana Fuentes; Respiratory Therapists George Brown and Denton Joseph; Physical Therapist Emmanuel Malabanan; Speech Therapist Ellery Spencer; Massage Therapist Deborah Key; Dr. Ronnie Sheena and Dr. Robert Jackson; the doctors, nurses and other staff of Methodist Hospital; and Kathy Killian and Bruce Mowry of Pulse Staffing.
The memorial service is to be conducted at two o'clock in the afternoon on Monday the 7th of March at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston, where The Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson, Jr., Rector, and The Rev. Robert P. Dixon, Associate Rector for Pastoral Care and Outreach, are to officiate. Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception at a venue to be announced during the service.
In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions may be directed to The Boys and Girls Harbor, www.boysandgirlsharbor.org, or to St. Martin's Episcopal Church, www.stmartinsepiscopal.org
"Mom, I miss you, I love you, thank you."