Donna Ruth (Mills) Hammond 1947-2022

Funeral services for Donna Ruth (Mills) Hammond, 75, of Mineola were held at 2 p.m. on Monday, July 11, 2022 at Beaty Funeral Home in Mineola, with Bro. Chad Lee officiating. A formal visitation was held just prior to services at 1 p.m. Interment followed at Shady Grove Cemetery in Winnsboro, with Robert Freeman, Joseph Henson, Kirk Henson, Robert Rodriguez, Joe Workman, Jr. and Joe Workman, Sr. serving as pallbearers. Ruth passed away peacefully at UT Southwestern Hospital, Dallas on July 8, 2022, surrounded by all her family.

Donna Ruth Mills was born on Feb. 21, 1947 in Winnsboro to Albin (Slim) and Ethel Mozelle (Messimer) Mills. She grew up in the farming community of Stout outside Winnsboro and graduated in the WHS Class of 1965. Having only girls in the family and no boys to help, she and her sisters helped, from a very young age, their parents truck farm and do general farm labor. The family story goes that Ruth was so young and so tiny that she had to stand up to push in the clutch on the tractor. As a young girl, she was affectionately nicknamed Rufus by her mother. Ruth knew the meaning of hard work.

Ruth married Benny Joe Hammond on Oct. 2, 1965, who unexpectedly predeceased her on Jan. 24, 1990. Tom Henry came into her life on July 4, 1993, and they had 22 wonderful years together. He loved her children, and later grandchildren, as his own. Tom predeceased her on April 12, 2015. In addition to her husbands, she was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Stephanie Hammond; sisters, Marilyn Stokley and Diane Weatherford; and three brothers-in-law, Billy Roycroft, Bill Stokley and Bruce Weatherford.

Ruth is survived by many family members. Survivors include son, Benny Joe Hammond, Jr. of Mineola; daughter, Melissa Workman and husband, Joe, of Hawkins; and Jennifer Henson and husband, Kirk, of Mineola. Grandchildren include Kadin Hammond, Shaina Freeman and husband Robert, Joe Workman, Jr. and wife Lexi and Harlie Gill. Ruth is also survived by six great-grandchildren, Henry, Dustin, Shaila, Thomas, Kay-Lynn and Dawson. Other survivors include two sisters, Linda Roycroft of Longview and Sherry Finney and husband, Larry, of Winnsboro. Numerous nieces, nephews, great and great-great nephews and nieces survive, as well as longtime special friend, Mary Jerden.

Early in life, Ruth worked as a cashier at Gibson’s for several years and later at the local woodyard. She helped Joe run their cattle business as well. After Joe’s death, she worked three jobs. She worked night security and as a cook at the Salesmanship Youth Club, worked at Kitchen’s Hardware & Deli and cleaned houses. Later in life, she worked as a dispatcher/office manager at the Wood County Airport and as a door greeter at Walmart. Her life centered around providing for and caring for her family. Ruth was a member of Smith Chapel United Methodist Church, Mineola, and the Shady Grove Cemetery Association, Winnsboro, being very dedicated to the maintenance, care, and history of the cemetery, where several generations of her family are buried.

Ruth was a devoted and loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, known to her children as Momma, to her grandchildren as Granny, and to her great-grandchildren as Great Momma. She adored her family and loved them unconditionally, cherishing every family event. Ruth was soft-spoken but tough as nails. Although her life was pathed with some disappointments and hardships, it didn’t dampen her spirit. She was widowed at the young age of 43 and left to raise three young girls alone, but she persevered and carried on. When illness struck, she again carried on, with the help of her precious daughters, Jennifer and Melissa, as caregivers. A double lung transplant gave her seven and one-half more years of life with her family. What determination and drive she had to live, with never a complaint. Her battle is now over but certainly not the positive mark she left on her family and all those who loved her.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Shady Grove Cemetery, c/o Sherry Finney, P.O. Box 861, Winnsboro, TX 75494.