RUTH TERRY DENNEY, 100, died in her sleep on April 5,
2002. She had celebrated her 100th. birthday on the
Fourth Day of July, 2001. The Ruth Terry Denney Library-
Research Center (pictured above) was dedicated in Ranger,
TX, during the Homecoming of 2000. Burial was in the
Pioneer Cemetery in Ranger.
Mrs. Denney was born July 4, 1901 in Ranger, TX, daughter
of Dr. P.R. Terry & Nancy Virginia Whitehead. She was a
1918 graduate of Ranger High School, earned her B.A.
degree from University of Texas at Austin and her M.A.
degree from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.
Ruth Terry married O.B. Denney in 1929. She taught World
History & English III in Ranger's Cooper, Young, & Hodges
Oak Park Schools from 1920 until 1943 when Mr. Denney was
transferred to El Dorado, AR to manage the Transportation
Department of the American Oil Company. She then continued
teaching in El Dorado until her retirement in 1967. In
addition to her teaching, Music, Drama, & Art have always
been her scholastic loves and until just a few short
years ago, Mrs. Denney continued to teach Art.
Although Mrs. Ruth Terry Denney lived in El Dorado, AR,
she never forgot her native home, Ranger, TX and the many
friends who loved her.
During the rest of her life, she and the estate of O.B.
Denney continued their support of that city's civic and
religious institutions. In 1996, a library was named in
her honor. She was a member of St. Paul United Methodist
Church, the Daughters of the American Revolution, & other
professional and civic organization where she was active
on both the state and national levels.
At the time of her death, she is survived by her nephew,
Jack M. Terry, Jr. and wife, Eden R. Terry, and her great-
nephews, Jack M. Terry III, Esq. and Joseph Denney Terry,
Esq, all of Houston. Surviving her is also the legacy of
the love of nature, arts and literature instilled in the
minds of generations of her students. Her sister was
Mittie Terry Carter (RHS-1928).