Ruth Cotten Whiddon Mann

Ruth Cotten Whiddon Mann died quietly August 14, 2010. She was born in Palestine on August 26, 1918 to Sen. Clay Cotten and Josephine Murphey Cotten. She resided in Brenham for the past 35 years.

She graduated from the University of Texas in Austin and received a Master of Education degree from the University of Houston. She was a Bluebonnet Bell nominee and a Sweetheart of Sigma Chi. She taught elementary school for more than 35 years in Palestine, El Paso and Houston. Ruth taught second grade at Lovett Elementary School in Houston for many years. She was dearly loved by her students, their parents and her co-workers. She was still in contact with many of her former students. She touched and inspired countless lives!

She was preceded in death by her parents, beloved husbands; Harold R. Bailey (who died in military service, 1943), Eugene Whiddon (1995), and Col. Thomas L. Mann (2006); her sister and brother-in-law, Virginia and Gayle Whiddon; and her brother Clay Cotten, Jr.

She is survived by sons, H. Randolph Bailey, M.D. of Houston and Thomas E. Whiddon of Steamboat Springs, Colorado; daughters-in-law, Kelly Bailey and Jeanne Whiddon; and stepson Thomas L. Mann Jr. of East Lansing, Michigan. She was blessed with three grandchildren, William Bailey and wife Melissa Pawlisch of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Clay Thomas Whiddon of Steamboat Springs, and Alexis Bailey of Houston. Her only great-grandson, Graham Pawlisch Bailey, visited her a few days before her death. Other family includes sisters-in-law, June Whiddon Dryer and husband, Leroy, Janis Huitt and husband Jim of Brenham and several nieces and nephews.

She asked that we remember her special friends (“daughters”): Phyllis Finley, Kathleen Cottle, Kathleen Cole, Kay Ringer, Carolyn Hill, Tammy Metzger, and Julie Edwards. The family will always be grateful for her devoted caregivers: Carolyn Nichols, Anna Johnson, Erma Pruitt, Lou Ella Johnson, Reyna Lara, Tanya Bell and Michelle Miller.

She was a long-time member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Brenham Country Club, and multiple bridge clubs.

Visitation with the family will be at Brenham Memorial Chapel on Wednesday, August 18th from 6-8 p.m. A memorial service celebrating Ruth’s life will be held Thursday, August 19th at 3 p.m. at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Brenham. The Reverend David Ottsen officiating.

For those who desire, memorials may be sent to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Brenham, Brazos Valley Hospice, or the Brenham State School.