Carolyn “Ruth” Fleeger

Carolyn “Ruth” Fleeger, 79, passed away Saturday.

Ruth was born May 22, 1938, in Butler, to Charles and Helen Burris Kaufman.

One of six children, Ruth grew up in the difficult World War II time of ration cards, which she still had.

She walked to school in the plentiful snow of Pennsylvania winters, and one of her most despised chores as a child was to clean the birdbath. She learned how to ride a bicycle on a red brick road, and she enjoyed being a Rainbow Girl, which provided leadership training through community service. She loved singing and was a member of the Butler High School choir until her graduation in 1956.

Ruth met the love of her life, James Lee Fleeger, on a blind date, and they were married Sept. 27, 1957. During their marriage, they were blessed with three children: David, Denise and Chuck. During the course of their life together, they moved several times for Lee's education and research. These stops included Penn State, University of Delaware, University of Illinois and “The” Ohio State University. Finally, their travels brought them to Texas A&M, where they were able to put down roots. Ruth was a wonderful mother, and one of her favorite memories was her trip to Tanzania for her son David's wedding. She loved getting to participate in the cultural aspects of the wedding there.

She worked for Texas A&M University in the Department of Agricultural Engineering for many years. Her organization and always “knowing a guy” who could do whatever needed doing helped her in that career. Ruth was an incredibly meticulous person, had impeccable handwriting, was a fast typist and was a whiz at spelling and short hand. She spent over a quarter of a century working as a legal secretary for Hugh Lindsay before retiring to be a full-time grandma in 2012.

Ruth was the ultimate hostess at all times, gracious and generous to a fault. Whenever she went out to eat with someone, she had to be the one to pay the check and was always the last to eat. She also loved helping people out at church. A founding member of Peace Lutheran Church, she purchased the first set of hand bells for the hand bell choir. She also was the 1989 Volunteer of the Year for Family Outreach. She also enjoyed her work with Habitat For Humanity. One of Ruth's biggest role models was Mother Teresa, and she tried to emulate that love of all people through her volunteerism.

In her free time, Ruth enjoyed sitting down and reading a good book while eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Her favorite things to read were crime mysteries, romance and non-fiction. The feisty side of her also came out with her daily habit of watching All My Children. She may have hated cleaning the birdbath as a kid, but she always had a hummingbird feeder filled for “Ruby,” which was her name for all the hummingbirds. One of the favorite things she ever did was getting to go on a hot-air balloon ride.

Grandma Ruth leaves behind a large family: her son and daughter-in-law, David Lee and Flora Fleeger; her daughter and son-in-law, Denise Lynn and Harvey Haney; her son and daughter-in-law, Charles “Chuck” Ross and Angela Fleeger; her granddaughter, Abigail “Abby” Jean Rutledge and her husband, Shawn Bates; her granddaughter, Katherine Ann Haney; her granddaughter, Kristin Nicole French and her husband, Logan; her grandson, Joseph Lee Fleeger; her grandson, James Craig Fleeger; and her six-month-old great-grandson, Kingsley Charles French.

Her grandchildren will miss hearing her call to say, “Hi, it's just grandma.”

FLEEGER — The family of Carolyn “Ruth” Fleeger, who died Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, would like to invite you to help celebrate Ruth's life by joining them at a visitation from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Hillier Funeral Home of Bryan, Texas.Her funeral service will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Peace Lutheran. She will be laid to rest immediately following the service next to her beloved husband, Lee, at the College Station City Cemetery.There will be a reception following the burial at the Peace Lutheran Church.Please visit Ruth's tribute page at www.hillierfuneralhome.com to share memories and stories.