Ruth Ann (Sanders) Ward was born April 30, 194, 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 daughterofOpalLois(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 LewisWard 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. Ruth Ann was the epitome of the Proverbs 31 Woman. Being a nurse was more than a job or career for Ruth Ann; it was her life. She was a natural-born caregiver 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 is survived by her sister, Carolyn Sue Newnam; children, son, GeraldHixonanddaughter, Lynita Hixon; grandchildren, Ashley Patterson, Gerald (and wife Annie) Hixon, Taylor Brownlee, and Kaylan (and husband Dalton) Maston; greatgrandchildren, Destiny Hixon,AsherHixon,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 (and Glen) Bierman, sister Ruby Jewel Sanders, brother Kenneth (and Pat) Sanders, brother-in-law John Newnam, husband Donivan Hixon, and husband James Ward.
A funeral service will be held on Thursday, June 19, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. at Stroud First Assembly of God Church, with burial to follow at Stroud Cemetery. Online condolences and memoriesmaybesharedby visiting www.parksbrothers. net. Care services are under the direction of Parks Brothers Funeral Service in Stroud, Oklahoma.