Ruth Maureen Tanner

Ruth Maureen Tanner peacefully passed away on the morning of May 1, 2023 at the age of 78. Maureen was born on May 15, 1944 in Oxnard, California, where her dad was serving in the U.S. Navy. Her parents Gale and Ruth French had been told they couldn’t have children, and as they were the first in their friend group to have a baby, Maureen quickly became known as “everybody’s baby”.

Maureen spent her early years in Illinois before moving to Florida with her parents and two younger sisters, Pat and Louisa. This was the beginning of her love of being at the beach!

In 1962, she met Joseph Victor Tanner at a dance at Patrick Air Force Base in Brevard County, Florida. Upon a dare, he asked her to dance the twist. She was reluctant to give her phone number to him at the end of the night, but told him if he really wanted it, he could probably find it in the phone book!

Maureen and Joe got married on November 30, 1963, just a week after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The next several years brought three children (Robert, Laura and Tammy) and many moves, including Texas, South Carolina, Virginia, Florida and eventually, Sydney Australia before coming back to Texas for Joe to finish his career.

At a neighborhood bible study in South Carolina, Maureen gave her life to Jesus and the trajectory of the entire family changed. Joe, Maureen and all three children were baptized together as a family during the years they lived in Virginia. Throughout their marriage, Maureen and Joe faithfully served in the church, hosting youth group parties, chaperoning lock-ins, teaching Sunday School and home groups for newly married couples.

As Joe was progressing in his career, Maureen was faithfully by his side, handling the buying and selling of homes, packing up households and getting the kids settled in new homes and schools. In every new place the family lived, Maureen developed many friendships that have stood the test of time.

During the 80s-90s, Maureen was an aerobics instructor, at times teaching up to 15 classes a week! She taught high-impact aerobics, step aerobics, kickboxing and even water aerobics at a variety of clubs all over the DFW Metroplex. For her 50th birthday, Joe bought her a candy apple red Ford Mustang convertible and she loved to drive to all her exercise classes with the top down.

In 1985, the family moved to Sydney, Australia for Joe’s job with Tandy Corporation. This was a huge move that resulted in a forever-tie to the Land Down Under. In the three short years the family lived there, Maureen and Joe forged deep friendships with many couples in their church family, and their oldest two children Robert and Laura met their future spouses.

Maureen and Joe moved back to Texas in 1988 and settled in Colleyville, Texas, where again, they faithfully served in their local church and Joe retired from his successful career with Radio Shack/Tandy Corp. In 2008, they moved to Robson Ranch in Denton, Texas where they enjoyed the active senior retired lifestyle with cruises around the world, wine clubs, Bible studies and boatloads of friends.

Maureen’s favorite role was grandma. She loved and adored her eight grandchildren Kaitlin, Jesse, Caleb, Ryan, Mallie Grace, Davis, Gabe and Trent. And her two great-grandchildren Maddox and William.

She faithfully attended baseball tournaments, choir concerts, soccer matches, birthday parties, school plays and recitals. She baked brownies and kept her refrigerator stocked with chocolate milk. She taught most of the grandchildren how to swim. Maureen and Joe hosted the Texas grandsons individually for sleepovers and called it “King for a Day”, where they spoiled them with movies, outings, special snacks and late-night swims. For her kids and grandkids who lived in Australia, Maureen willingly traveled halfway across the world many times over the years to invest in, love on and spoil her Aussie grandkids.

Maureen was joyful and loved to laugh. She enjoyed a frozen margarita (with salt!) and anything chocolate! In November of this year, she and Joe would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. She adored her husband Joe and never wanted to be apart from him. Theirs was a beautiful love story of faithfulness, perseverance and dedication.

Maureen is preceded in death by her father Gale French, her mother Ruth French and her younger sister Pat French. She is survived by her husband of 59 years Joseph Tanner, son Robert Tanner and his wife Susan of Moama, Australia, daughter Laura Reid and husband Garth of Hunchy, Australia, and daughter Tammy Hinojos and husband Alex of North Richland Hills, Texas, eight grandchildren, two great grandchildren with two more on the way. She is also survived by her youngest sister Louisa and her husband Tom of Lubbock, Texas.

A celebration of Maureen’s life will take place on Monday, May 22, 2023 at the Robson Ranch Clubhouse in Denton, Texas, at 2:00 pm.