Ruth Bryant Maxwell

Her family soon returned to their ancestral home in Stedman, North Carolina, where she lived with her parents, grandmother, Jenny, and brothers, Douglas, William, and Thomas. Ruth grew up in Stedman until she went to college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She majored in music, particularly voice, and business, graduating with a bachelor's degree.

In 1949, she married William David Maxwell, a childhood friend, also from Stedman. She worked as a secretary to help support him through his graduate studies at John Hopkins in Baltimore. While in Baltimore, she gave birth to her first child, Susan Ruth.

A few years later, Ruth moved to New Orleans upon her husband's first job as a professor of Economics at Tulane University. Her second child, Marian Lois, was born there in 1959.

Throughout her life, Ruth was devoted to her family and passionate about education, particularly religious education, and the arts. In the mid 1960's, she used her business skills to support her husband's academic career at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, where she served as his only secretary, helping him establish their first Economics department. She went on to support him through his careers as a professor at the University of Indiana, and Dean of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M in College Station.

She was active in the United Methodist Church in several communities over the years, particularly enjoying teaching Sunday School to younger children. While in College Station, she became a Head Start volunteer.

After her divorce in the late 1970's, Ruth moved to Dallas, Texas, where she worked as a legal secretary, valued for her fast typing, but held in particular esteem for her editorial skills, assisting young lawyers in proper court document composition.

Always a fan of opera, in Dallas, Ruth was able to attend live opera regularly, and developed her deepest passion for the art during this period of her life.

After retirement, Ruth moved to Covington, Louisiana, to be near her younger daughter Marian Johnson's family, particularly her grandson Dustin. She moved into the Christwood community, where she remained until her death.

At Christwood, Ruth established the Christwood singers, an opera education and appreciation club called Bravos, and a music themed social club, the Bon Vivants. Her organizational skills and deep commitment to these groups was honored and appreciated by her community. She was thrilled when her beloved grandson became an operatic tenor, and was able to perform for Christwood many times.

Ruth died peacefully on April 16th, 2026, a few months after her 98th birthday.

Throughout her life, our mother was a clear thinker and straight shooter who cared about her community, ever loyal to her friends and family, and a model of thrift, honesty, and integrity through all of her life's challenges.

We are very proud of her.

Ruth's ashes will be buried in Lafayette Memorial Park at 1 p.m. on October 21, 2026. The address is 2301 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville NC, 28301. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Head Start Association at https://nhsa.org/, and/or to the Metropolitan Opera at https://www.metopera.org.

Rest well, Mom.