 Holy Redeemer Catholic Church as we gather this day to celebrate God's great gift of life, the life that he bestowed upon Ruth, and the life that she shared with us as life, as mother, as grandmother, and most especially here in Holy Redeemer as our sister in the Lord. And as we come to remember her life and to celebrate her life, we come to receive life, God's gift to this Son, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, that nourishes us and strengthens us for the journey. Let us pray, oh God Almighty Father, our faith professes that your Son died and rose again, mercifully grant that through this mystery, your servant Ruth, who has fallen asleep in Christ, may rejoice to rise again through him, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Let us be seated as we listen to the Word of the Lord. A reading from the Book of Wisdom. The just man, though he died early, the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seem in the view of the foolish to be dead, and their passing away was thought an affliction, and they're going forth from us other destruction. But they are in peace, for if before man indeed they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality. Chest eyes a little, they shall be greatly blessed because God tried them, and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dark about as sparks through stumble. They shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord shall be their king forever. Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect, the word of the Lord. If I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge, if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I have nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interest, it is not quick tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing. If tongues, they will cease. If knowledge, it will be brought to nothing. The word of the Lord. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Jesus said to his disciples, when the Son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne and all the nations will be assembled before him and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, imprisoned and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him and say, Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When do we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? When do we see you ill or in prison and visit you? And the king will say to them and reply, a man I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers or sisters of mine you did for me. Then he will say to those on his left, depart from me you accursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison and you did not care for me. Then they will answer and say, Lord when do we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison and not ministered to your needs? He will answer them, amen I say to you, but you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me. And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. The gospel of the Lord. My first New Year's Day, I received an invitation from Ruth to join her family for their annual New Year's Day dinner. So I arrived and there was a lot of people there and we were in the kitchen, I remember that, and Ruth said, Father Kevin, will you pray for us? So I said, okay, I can do that. And so we held hands and I started praying and I kept praying, kept praying. The longer I went, the tighter the grip on my hand from Ruth was getting. It was like, okay, enough, we're hungry, we're ready to eat. So I thought of that as I was thinking about my homily today that Ruth's hands probably there saying, okay, enough. Two things about Ruth that amazed me at all times was her eyes and her smile. Let me tell you something. If you were saying something crazy, you're going to get these eyes from Ruth. But if you were saying something, she really agreed with it, you're going to get a big smile. So you always could read Ruth by the eyes and the smile. You knew that some way you're either talking really crazy or she really agreed with you. I chose the reading today. I told Denver I'm not going to get political in this homily. I'll let the political pundits do that. They can be political if they want to be political. I said, I'm going to stick to scripture. I couldn't really, we could really have a good one though with that gospel today. There's some people going to go to hell. That's all I can say. They don't start looking out for the poor and those in need and those who are strangers and those who are in prisons and those who are alienated and disenfranchised are going to go to hell. So that's the politicals I'm going to get. Okay. I'm just saying and you know what I mean, you know what I mean. I want to share with you a quote that means a great deal to me and is from Henry Nowan, the life of the beloved and our greatest gift. There is such a thing as a good death. We ourselves are responsible for the way we die. We have to choose between clinging to life in such a way that death becomes nothing but a failure or letting go of life and freedom so that we can be given to others as a source of hope. The real question before our death then is not how much can I still accomplish or how much influence can I still exert? But how can I live so that I can continue to be fruitful when I am no longer here among my family and friends? That question shifts our attention from doing to being. Our doing brings success but our being bears fruit. And I thought of that and the reason I didn't want to get political today because before Ruth was a Democrat, before Ruth was involved as a juvenile officer, as a city official here in San Antonio, as a state representative, Ruth was first and foremost a child of God. And that, my brothers and sisters, is what shaped her life. That's why she was as effective as she was in government because she chose to be, she knew she could do and she did. Sweet Jesus, look at what she did. She did and she accomplished and we weren't saying Phillips and all those awards and everything was there. Ruth had tons of awards but in the end that really didn't speak to who Ruth was because Ruth was one with. She was a child of God. She knew who she was and whose she was. And because of that she was able to be bold in what she did. She was able to work across the aisle. She was able to work with people because she saw in every person their inherent dignity and she respected that. Even though they might not have agreed with her, even though they might not have been her ally, she respected people and she was willing to work with people no matter who they were. And she had a concern and a care most especially for those in need. Those who have been wrongly accused. Those who needed a better education. Those who needed food and health care. Those who needed better transportation. Ruth was the champion because Ruth knew that she possessed that ability to care and to love people. And so to do the things that she did in Austin was really for Ruth her ministry. That's why she said to you Denver, I'll marry you but I ain't getting out of government because she knew that her role was first to be wife and she would be a wife and she would be a good wife because that's what the Lord wanted her to do. But then also there were people that needed to be looked out for and Ruth was going to look out for those people. So in a real way she did ministry for holy redeemer in the state capital. And that brothers and sisters is what all of us are called to do. Those of us who proclaim to be followers of Jesus Christ need to be living that life of Jesus Christ no matter where we are. And we should not be afraid or ashamed or intimidated by anyone to boldly proclaim the message of Jesus Christ. When I was hungry you gave me to eat. When I was thirsty you gave me to drink. When I was naked you clothed me. Ill in the prison you visited me. If we take our call as Christians as followers of Jesus Christ seriously we need to not only sit in church and feel good about it but we need to take it out on the streets and wherever we are where it makes us uncomfortable. And Ruth was willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of Jesus Christ. And the wonderful thing about Ruth was that didn't even diminish when she got ill. She bore the cross of suffering but continued to carry the mission of Jesus Christ. You'd see that on Sundays that she would come in here, Denver would bring her sometimes when he wasn't at his church and she would come, she would sit in the back queue, she was here because she was recharged and she was re-energized to do the work of the Lord. Even in the midst of pain and suffering. As we gather today that's what we celebrate. We celebrate this moment of a fierce failure and who was proud to live it, who was proud to proclaim it, who was proud to give her life for this city, for this state, for her family and for our parish family. Ruth lived the gospel of Jesus Christ. She took it to heart and she lived. May she be numbered among the sheep who were faithful to the Lord. May she rest in the eternal loving arms of God who first loved her, how lucky we were to experience that love and return. So many times, so many times, the newest family on earth, may she rest in peace this day with all the saints and angels, with all the sheep who belong to the police den. Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and sits at the right hand of the Father where he intercedes for his church. Confident that God hears the voices of those who trust in the Lord Jesus, we join our prayers to his. In baptism, Ruth received the light of Christ, scattered the darkness now and leader over the waters of death. We pray to the Lord. Our sister Ruth was nourished at the table of the Savior. Welcome her into the halls of the heavenly banquet. We pray to the Lord. Many friends and members of our families have gone before us and await the kingdom. Grant them an everlasting home with your son. We pray to the Lord. Those who trusted in the Lord, now sleep in the Lord. Give refreshment, rest and peace to all whose faith is known to you alone. We pray to the Lord. The family and friends of Ruth seek comfort and consolation. Heal their pain and dispel the darkness and doubt that come from grief. We pray to the Lord. We are assembled here in faith and confidence to pray for our sister Ruth. Strengthen our hopes so that we may live in the expectation of your sons coming. We pray to the Lord. Lord God, give her a peace and healer of souls. Hear the prayers of the Redeemer Jesus Christ and the voices of your people whose lives were purchased by the blood of the land. Forgive the sins of all who sleep in Christ and grant them a place in the kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Please be seated. Just a closer walk with thee. Just with thee. As we humbly present to you these sacrificial offerings, O Lord, for the salvation of your servant Ruth, we beseech your mercy that she who did not doubt your son to be a loving savior may find in him a merciful judge who lives and reigns. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God. It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation. Always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, Holy Father, Almighty and Eternal God, through Christ our Lord. In him the hope of blessed resurrection is dawned that those saddened by the certainty of dying might be consoled by the promise of immortality to come. Indeed, for your faithful Lord, life is changed, not ended. And when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven. The soweth angels and dark angels, the thrones and dominions, and with all the hosts and powers of heaven, we sing to him of your glory, as without end we acclaim. You are indeed Holy, O Lord, and all you have created rightly gives you praise. But through your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and working of the Holy Spirit, give life to all things and make them holy. And you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting, a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name. Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you, by the same Spirit, graciously make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration, that they may become the body and blood of your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate these mysteries. For on the night he was betrayed, he himself took bread, and giving you thanks, he said the blessing, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples saying, Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you. In a similar way, even supper resended, he took this chalice, he took the chalice, and giving you thanks, he said the blessing, gave the chalice to his disciples saying, Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me. The mystery of faith. As we celebrate the memorial of the saving passion of your son, his wondrous resurrection and ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice. Look, we pray upon the oblation of your church and recognizing the sacrificial victim by whose death you will to reconcile us to yourself. Grant that we who are nourished by the body and blood of your son and filled with this holy spirit may become one body, one spirit in Christ. May he make of us an eternal offering to you so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect, especially with the most blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God, with blessed Joseph her spouse, with your blessed apostles and glorious martyrs, St. Vincent de Paul and with all of the saints on his constant intercession in your presence, we rely for unfailing health. May this sacrifice of our reconciliation, we pray, oh Lord, advance the peace and salvation of all the world. Be pleased to confirm in faith and charity your pilgrim church on earth with your servant Francis R. Hoke, Gustavo, our bishop, the owner of bishops, all the clergy, and the entire people you have gained for your own. Listen graciously to the prayers of this family whom you have summoned before you. In your compassion, O merciful Father, gather to yourself all your children scattered throughout the world. Remember your servant Ruth, whom you have called from this world to yourself. Grant that she who was united with your son in a death like his may also be one with him in his resurrection. When from the earth he will raise up in the flesh those who have died and transform our lowly body after the pattern of his own glorious body to our departed brothers and sisters too, and to all who were pleasing to what they're passing from this life. Give kind admittance to your kingdom. There we hope to enjoy forever the fullness of your glory when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes for seeing you our God as you are. We shall be like you for all the ages and praise you without end through Christ our Lord, to whom you be still on the world all that is good. Please stand. At the Savior's command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, honor it as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Deliver us, Lord, we pray from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope in the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ who said to your apostles, peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins but on the faith of your church and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign forever and ever. The peace of the Lord be with you always and with your spirit that is turned and offered each other a sign of peace. Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb. Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. As we now have communion I invite those of you who are Catholic to come forward. If you're not Catholic but would like to receive a blessing simply cross your arms and the minister will give you a blessing. Please the ushers will direct you from the pews. These two sections will go toward the rear. These two sections will go toward the rear. These two sections and the older church will come forward. Just in the sacrament of his body, food for the journey, mercifully grant that strengthened by it, our sister Ruth may come to the eternal table of Christ, who lives and reigns forever. At this time we would like to proceed with some tributes. We will follow the program. First will be the Honorable Joe Webb who served with Ruth, campaign manager I think once and she was his campaign manager and they served together in the city. And we'll have an Honorable William Cruz, William Cruz Shaw will speak our current District 2 Councilman. We'll have the Honorable Judge Nelson Wolfe, Bear County, the Honorable Tommy Calvert Jr. from Bear County, then from the Texas House of Representatives, the Honorable Joe Strauss, Speaker of the House, District 120 Representative, the Honorable Barbara Gervins Hawkins, the Honorable Dewana Dukes, then from the Texas Senate, the Honorable Letitia Vande Pute, Representative from Jose Menendez's office, the Honorable Rodney Ellis. If Lloyd Dogget is here, Lloyd then will speak from the federal dimension. And then two friends, Rosalind Anderson, Frank Burney will speak, and then final comments by Denver McClendon, Bruce Husband. Father Faust, Reverend clergy, to all of those who have served on our city and state throughout, I'm just delighted to have the privilege to still be living in order to have these words to say about my dear friend. I need to find something light to say because if we had gotten together, we would have laughed a lot. We had a lot to laugh about, and sometimes we had a little to cry about. But seriously, she was a visionary. She could see way down the road. She was enthusiastic. She was astute. And she gave a lot, contributed a lot to our society, city and state. I wish I could say all that she really meant to us. She stuck to it. She was a person who wanted to do a good job, and she did. And I must say she was a trusted and loyal friend. She did her job well. And I'll tell you, if you don't know it, I'll remind you of it. She passed many bills in the legislature. If she saw something that needed to be done, she did it. Not a lot of fanfare about it. She just went about doing it the right way. She'll be missed on a personal note, and Father already peeped my whole card. Yeah, she served as my campaign manager and did a good job. And that's when I realized that she was going places. We had a little joke that we always talked about. There was some fire doing the campaign, doing my first campaign. There were some people that thought that they were on the right side, but they what? Ended on the wrong side, and she let him know about it, too. She let him know that Joe Webb is my man, and don't mess with him. That's the way she was. She was straight up about it. And as I said, he peeped my whole card, so she turned around and ran for office herself, and I was her campaign manager. So that's the way I feel that the Lord wanted her to get her feet wet, if you will, to get her be grounded. She was certainly grounded because of all of these things that she was able to give to us. We're a better place. I could think of some bills if I had time to talk about them that she passed. And somehow, no one else had thought of them. Is that right? So she went on pressing on and on to do a good job. We didn't talk very much. I didn't mess with her business, and I didn't go to Austin to mess around with herself. We'd come and hug and talk later on, but I didn't get in her way at all because I felt she had her feet on the ground, and I didn't need to be meddling into her affairs. Because I'm kind of a meddler, you know. And she didn't like, she didn't like no meddling, I can tell you that. I loved her. Good afternoon church. Ms. Ruth is what I often call her as one of my mentors. And she often told me, as a politician, sometimes you have to put away the notes, cards, and put away your speaking points, talking points. So I'm gonna do that this afternoon and speak from the heart. Ms. Ruth was a remarkable woman. And we've come to know each other because we have several things in common. Number one, we're both from Houston. We're also both graduates of Texas Southern University. And she was so proud of that. And when I called her to get her advice regarding going to law school at Texas Southern, she says, if you go to law school, do it for the right reasons. Do it for the right reasons. And I've always took that to heart. Ms. Ruth, tell me, whatever you do, always give back to where you come from. And we can sit here and talk about all the bills she's passed and all the great things she's done. What she did on a personal level, that's who she was. Father Kevin hit it on the nail. She talked the talk, but she walked the walk day in, day out. And I was, me and my wife are so honored and so blessed to see Denver and Ms. Ruth at Mass. Because we're recently married. And we always aspire to be that couple that can light up a room when we walk into it. And that's what Denver and Ms. Ruth did. We look up to them every day. Angela, your family, we're friends, more important than a family, family of God. And we're here for you. So God bless you all. Most importantly, God bless the legacy and the memory of the honorable Ruth McQueen. Thank you. God bless you. Well, it was in the fall of 1994 when Tracy and I were on a three day trip to Santa Fe. I received a call from my chief of staff who said, Mayor, your Mayor Pro Tem, Ruth Jones McClendon, has set off a political storm. She is called publicly for a boycott for all development over the north side recharge zone. What do you think? I said, I think I'd better get home. Ruth was right on that. We did vote to put a moratorium on development until we approved the first ordinance ever to protect the development over the recharge zone. Chalk that up to Ruth. She was a great council person and became a leading legislator who we at the county turned to numerous times for issues on budgets and transportation. Sometimes we would meet at Denver and Ruth's home before the Martin Luther King march. Always made a point to march as close to Ruth as I could. I understood her political power and her popularity. But one special time, I believe for both of us, it was in the spring of 2014 we were setting together on the tailgate of a pickup in front of the Claude Black Center waiting for voters to come so she could ask them to vote for me in my reelection campaign. But it gave us time to reminisce, to reminisce about great political leaders that we have lost when G.J. Sutton became the first African American from San Antonio to serve in the Texas legislature. When Belmo Bellinger was a power through his newspaper on the east side of San Antonio, about our time on the city council and about our time we worked together in the legislature. In that year, in 2014, she did more than help me. She helped Tommy Coward to become the first African American in the history of Bear County to serve on the commissioner's court. You and I have lost a dear good friend and the community has lost a great leader. First giving honor to God, our great friend, and our savior. To the esteemed pastors, the pastor of this church, Father Foss, and all of the elected officials, I want to ask we almost have a quorum of the legislature. Would all the, all of those who have served in the state house of senate, would you please stand to be recognized? They've come from all around the state of Texas. Give them a big stand in San Antonio round of applause. Surely means a lot to have all of you from around the state here with us to celebrate the life of Representative McClendon today. I'm going to do as my father said, be brief, be good, and be gone. In preparing for this tribute this morning, I was about to hang up with a friend and they said to me, you know, she didn't know Ruth very well, but she said, Ruth was so nice. She was such a nice person, and not every politician is like that. She said, we bumped into each other at Stein Mart and all of a sudden I didn't know Ruth well, but she said, what do you think of this dress? What do you think of this item? And they, they started shopping together for hours. A new friend. What a friend all of us could have in Ruth McClendon. And it was her faith foundation, her faith foundation because she knew the best friend that we have is Jesus and the love that Jesus showed to us. She wanted to show to other people and she did that through her service. I'm probably one of her first interns. I was an intern for her in 1999, my summer job. I was 18 years old and she was kind enough to let me work with her in her office and I learned so much from her and all of us remember her laugh and her smile. I remember and I know she's, she's, she's watching down on us as, as an angel today and she's with our savior because she was a woman of faith. I can come here and testify. I know she was a woman of faith and she went, this is, you know, many, many years ago before, before I think Father Fawze was here and she said, I went to hear a new, the new pastor at church and I said, well, what was his name? She said, well, he had this really heavy accent and she let out this, this, this big laugh that Ruth had and said, I just don't remember, but she was there. She knew where her foundation and where her strength came from. It came from service in this church and in the world that was her ministry. And so she rose being our friend in city council on a campaign theme my father gave her. We were having a little bit of trouble with a previous councilman not returning calls. So my father told Ruth, make your theme, I will call you back. Y'all remember that? Remember that? And she won. But with the theme, I will call you back. And she did. She called up, she called everybody back because that, she ran on it. She got to know so many of us in the community. We all can tell stories of conversations that we had with Ruth, a great friend. She called us back when we needed her. So thank you, dear Ruth. Thank you for being a friend to the falsely accused. Thank you for being a friend to children in juvenile detention that you will never meet. Thank you for being a friend to the homeless and those who are most in need. And I want to thank all of those friends and loved ones who have helped her take care of her in this moment, these years of inspiration where some of us thought when we heard on the news that she had stage 4 brain and lung and cancer, we just didn't think she had that long. But we know how strong she was because we watched her persevere for years. And we know she's in a better place. The last time I saw her was in the home. And thank you, Ross, for being there with us and bringing me and my mother. And at that time, sometimes Representative McClendon could speak and sometimes she couldn't. And that day, she wasn't able to really say much. But I'll never forget, as I'm getting ready to exit, we started talking about President Trump. And Ruth let out a mmm. And I knew Ruth was still there. God bless you. I never talked to Ruth about President Trump. But those of us who served with Ruth in the Texas House will always remember so much about her. First, we will remember her as people across San Antonio and the whole state of Texas remember her as the child of Houston's fifth ward who never forgot where she came from. The former youth probation officer who dedicated so much of her public service to that most righteous cause, the cause of justice for those who've been failed by the system. We'll remember a faithful advocate for education and opportunity for her constituents. And we will remember the tenacity she showed in her final years of service, the respect she commanded when she would slowly and gingerly walk up to the podium to begin to speak. We will remember Ruth as an inspiration and a mentor, a fighter, and a leader. We will also remember her, perhaps most of all, as others have said, as a friend. For better or worse, and I won't point out any individuals today, the Texas legislature is known for its characters. And in the very best sense of the word, Ruth Jones McClendon was a character. Her colleagues knew it, and we loved her for it. We knew that if she invited you to a steak lunch at the Hofbrow, she was probably going to ask for a favor, and she was probably going to get it too. We knew it was a really big favor, and especially serious issue, if she offered to pick you up in her jag. And we knew that she loved jokes, and she loved to kid, and she loved to give people nicknames. And this is why you've seen so many beautiful pictures of Ruth in recent days with that giant infectious grin. There are so many facets to Ruth's legacy and chapters in her story. For example, there is hope for the wrongly convicted because of the exoneration commission that she created. And there are the promising young people who come to work in the Capitol through the McClendon Scholars Program, including several that I've been lucky enough to host in my office. But for those of us who served with Ruth, her real legacy is that she made us all want to do better. She showed us how to be a better legislator, to be sure, but she also showed us how to be a better person. She made something of herself, she pushed through, and then she gave back. For years and years, she gave back. She served and she fought until literally she had nothing left to give. And if you were anywhere near her, if you had the chance to watch her for just one day, you could not be unaffected by that. We will never forget our friend for the legacy she left, the joy she brought, and the example she set. God bless our Ruth. Good afternoon, everyone. First, give an honor to God, our Lord and Savior, and thank you to an appreciation to the men and women of the clergy. Blessings to Ruth's family, friends, and others. Now, it's been an emotional moment for me. You know, I thought I was a big girl, and sometimes we're reminded through a lot of emotion the things we have to do. But I do realize that a funeral represents, no doubt, a time of mourning of the deceased, but also the time for celebration, the celebration of the life of the one who is no longer with us and of the one that we love. So, to the family, I know many times you'll ask yourself why. So, being a woman of faith myself, I want to remind you that his will shall be done. And when the flesh ceases to exist, and we should come through our age, through our illnesses and tragedies, we must remember the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. So, in our darkest moments, I want y'all to go to him and no other for answers, because remember, he has the only answer. This is a time when your faith will be tested, but you must be strong and steadfast, and must not doubt we must accept it was time. I had the great opportunity to see Ruth, her sister from another mother, Senator Vanderpute, help me walk through and see an our great friend. We had a great opportunity, the legislative, Texas Legislative Black Caucus came here in September for a retreat, and we had an opportunity to visit the lady we call Ruth, and we enjoyed it, and she did too. For me, as I sit here today, and I think about the legacy of a woman, a great woman, a woman who served this community for nearly 30 years, think about it, public service for 30 years, that's a long time. So, I wonder if my tears of joy or sorrow or fear, but I know this, that I had her support, I had her guidance and direction. So, I see my job as maintaining a legacy that this community is proud of, a legacy that we will never forget of a woman who served this community for a number of years. So, I come before you humble today to tell you what I will do to make sure that her legacy is maintained, because it is so important, not only because she was an elected official on the local and the state level, but because she was a great human being and a person well revered in this community. So, during my tenure at the George Gravery Youth Center, we named our middle school, the Ruth Jones McClendon Learning Academy. I asked her for her permission, and she gave it as such, and as our students walk the halls, they remember the great lady whose picture hangs in the hallway. I also know from all of us that she'll be missed, and I think about the shoes that I must feel in reminding that legacy. And so, I promise to each and every one of you, and especially to my friend Ruth, who I've known before she became an elected official, who when I went to her for many occasions, especially when she was on city council, and I remember the voice that said, Barbara, did you do what you need to do? I said yes, and I think we all know she was very direct in her approach. She was unwavering in her demeanor, and as the father and most of you have already said today, she was clear and very precise on what she expected. So, I look for my job to continue that legacy and to be a good steward to this community and to the state of Texas. And so, I too welcome you all here today, and thank you for being here and helping us celebrate the life of one of our great ones, one of our icons in the city of San Antonio. And Denver, thank you for giving Ruth, I believe, 30 years or more, really 30 years, and to her children and her son. You know, a lot of times the children are sometimes forgotten through the legacy of the parent. But we remember, and I always say these words, the lady we all call Ruth, because she was that lady, that great lady who left us with many memories that will go on to the history of this community and the state of Texas. So Denver, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to raise up her name, and I will continue to do that through my service. Thank you very much. Good morning. I'm Helen Gettings, and I am the chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. And would you please allow me to substitute this morning for our colleague, Representative Donna Dukes. I would ask that all of the members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus and those former members, please stand as I make these few remarks on your behalf. On behalf of the members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, our member and our friend, Ruth Johns McClendon, will always be in our hearts. She was a very, very special person and no one as special as Ruth can ever be forgotten. We treasured Ruth McClendon for her wisdom, her commitment, her dedication, but most of all, we treasured her for her hard work for the least of God's children, particularly those who face injustice and inequality. She was a coalition builder and she was a great example of being one in a body of 150 and making a huge difference. Without question, we're deeply saddened today because Ruth is gone, but we are smiling and we will continue to smile because Ruth indeed was here, because we know and we smile because Texas is far better because of Ruth Johns McClendon. To her family, we pray for each and every one of you, God's strength and his peace, and we ask that God will bless and keep you. Thank you to my brothers and sisters and to Denver for allowing me to make a few comments today. Thank you to many Sanchez who's here today on behalf of Senator Menendez and if I know one thing about my sister Ruth, she was a stickler for protocol and there is a message here from Senator Menendez but there is a sitting senator here with us and I'm going to ask my brother, Royce West, to please come forward and to please read this letter from Senator Menendez because there is a Texas senator here and Ruth would want this senator to read this letter. Dear Denver and family of Ruth, Jones McClendon, my wife and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend Ruth and that we personally cannot be in attendance if they're well due to a previous planned family holiday trip. We have lost a champion of the people and a courageous leader of the state of Texas. When I first came to the Texas legislature as a freshman member, we've always offered advice and guidance that later became invaluable to my tenure as a public servant. She's an effective role model who devoted her life to empowering the needy and she set the bar high for those of us who followed in a footsteps serving San Antonio City Council. Ruth was a strong and tenacious leader who cared passionately about making a positive difference in the community and promoting social justice. Our community will be forever inspired by the legacy that Representative McClendon leaves behind. Our thoughts and our prayers go to Denver, the family, friends in the community that love Ruth. Rest in peace, my friend. Sincerely, Senator Jose Menendez, State Senator District 26. Thank you, Ruth. My sister Ruth was a surprising woman. She surprised all of us on a daily basis. I know she surprised Denver McClendon for 30 years with her infinite love for this man and the trips they shared sometimes with a lot of us too. I know she surprised her children when she insisted on making every family celebration just an absolute joyous feast of food and love and more party. I know she surprised her colleagues by getting them to vote for things they had told her ahead of time they weren't going to vote for. She surprised her constituents by delivering time and time again at the city and at the state for them. She surprised her doctors in her medical team by lasting longer I think almost than anybody with a stage four lung cancer, which by the way she didn't smoke, but today she's not surprised at our Lord. And I got to thinking about it because Ruth loved two seasons particularly in the Catholic year. She loved Advent and she loved Holy Week. She loved Easter and Holy Week because she said it was a time of forgiveness and redemption and hope. And she loved Advent because it was a time of surprises. We often talked about it. Many of you may not know she had an intense devotion to the Blessed Mother and she didn't wear her religion on her sleeves like a lot of politicians. She used politics for God, not the other way around. And we talked once about the surprise of the Blessed Mother. Can you imagine a teenage girl and this angel descending and saying you're going to have a child and he's going to be the savior and her saying well I don't know man how could that be. And that's the season we just celebrate. But Ruth was about that surprise and about accepting and knowing miracles. And she worked toward miracles all the time even as her body failed. We shared so many great great work efforts together. But it was the personal times that I will cherish the most. Like shoe shopping. Like the trips that we took. We would prepare lots of food. One time we went to go pick her up at the house and I had prepared the tacos and the juice and you know bambulza and everything in the car and she had chicken salad sandwiches and fruit and I mean just we had so much food there wasn't room for the luggage. And those that were trying to help us load the car commented the fact that we were only driving to Houston. But we prepared the food because that's what we did on over that's what you do right because that's what your mama did because that's what your grandmother did. And we realized laughing that that was our bond. We prepared the food ahead of time because we remembered a time when our mothers and grandmothers when her folk and me hint that didn't know if they were going to be served on a trip on the road. And Ruth remembered it and she fought for it every single day. And so it was with that remembrance of knowing that she worked so that everybody could have a place at the table that everybody was worthy. And she knew that even if she didn't like someone's politics that she recognized their dignity and would help and mentor people. There was a certain the young new member of the legislature from Bear County and she sat out to help him. She thought she told me she said you know I think he's a cute white boy and he's got potential to speak when you turned out really well. She helped others she helped people across the aisle with process and procedure and she was willing to share because she thought everybody needed to be at the table. Well for my sister it's that time of surprises. It's the time of joy and it's the time when she gets to enjoy the table in heaven. And so today as all of you remember Ruth and Miss Ruth and as all of us remember all of the surprises that she bought do not forget that she established that Ruth Jones McClendon scholarship at St. Phillips. It would be a wonderful way for us to honor her and to continue helping those get to that table. She was my sister, she was my friend, she was my legislative colleague and today she is the angel that we see every day. She knew about angels and that's why she loves surprises not the ones that you think about in books with feathers and halos. She recognized the angels on earth the men and women you come in contact every day and she recognized that they had to do work and she helped them. And so today let us honor her and the next day by recognizing each other the surprise of the angels on earth that do the work that help our community and then we will honor our sister Ruth, sister flights of angels. Sing me to thy rest. Many of us came from around the state far and wide because of Ruth obviously but I do want to say that Ruth is a part of a great lineage. The Mayor of Houston is here Sylvester Turner give him a round of applause and you've got to powerhouse this from Dallas and the State House and the State Senate but you know it was always a mystery to us. Black people from other parts of the state you know most of the African-Americans in Texas live in Houston and Dallas and it was always a mystery how San Antonio ain't but a handful of us here but you all always had a seat at the table of leadership. I remember coming here with Mickey Leland, G.J. was in the legislature, always a power and his brother AC and we've always respected that and part because so many of the African-Americans here were educated. Many came as part of the military and it was a close-knit community and even when you didn't have the numbers you formed coalitions. Joe Webb, Ruth was a part of a great dynasty so we respect her but we respect you and we thank you for sharing Ruth McClendon with us for so many years. Three quick points, maybe I'm the only one here, the only one speaking, whoever got on Ruth's bad side but I did it one time. It was old one, Mayor, Royce, I was feeling good, I had passed the budget and I'm up there trying to make my last little thank you and Ruth came over, it's 2001, she sat down in the chair by my thought she's coming to congratulate me and she said as soon as you get there we got to talk so I said okay and go on and we she said no no we're not gonna talk out here let's go on back in that lounge where you sin of disease and don't want us house members in there so I go sit there and I'm she's going on and on about a bill that she thought I killed in committee and she's going on and on and what could I say I mean I figured she the only two black ones so I figured it was Royce but I couldn't say that because he walked in there and saw her going off on me and got his food and got out so I sat there and took it out taking notes I mean what could I say and you know I so I was thinking it really was awful whoever did it really deserved this and so I'm writing down the notes that what can you say then from trying to pay attention then she said and you're always on the diet well you always eat I slapped that food out of your plate so finally when she stopped I said Ruth I'm really sorry and look my staff probably did it let me get to the bottom of this and I'll get back with you so I go up I call her running but Donna do I call her running by say something wrong with Ruth and I call the other one she'd run all around all the time with Sylvester Turner was a boy I call him and say man what's going on are y'all drinking over there so then I asked Helen getting shit I called Denver no he just like her don't call him for herself a feather so I asked my staff and they said no no no you you you know you're not even on the committee it was somebody else so I did call Denver and I went over and talked to her and explained it to her she was so nice and she apologized but you know let me tell you if you got on her wrong side you get off quit second point she and I passed a number of criminal justice bills together it works in Austin sometimes they pass the bill out the Senate then they pass it out the house you know to get it off that back and they know sometimes get it out of one the other won't kill it so that happened with a signature bill that Ruth had it was at one point called the Tim Cole Commission and you remember Tim Cole's mother that case it was the Texas Tech rapist allegedly wrongfully convicted died in prison his mother lived here she really died some years ago so Ruth was destined to get that bill passed I got it out of Senate one time then she got it out of the house and when she got it out of the house she put a lot of pressure on me to try to get it out of the Senate I did the best I could so then the last session that she and I served in the legislature she got it out quick in fact she loaded up the bill with a whole lot of stuff I was thinking I was saying oh well these white people in the Senate but we're in the world this is gonna pass I'm wondering why would she put this kind of pressure on me but why would y'all do it put all this in the building so I get it over there and I go meet when I said now representative I can get a bill passed but you know some I'm acting crazy they don't want Tim Cole's name on it that's the inside story y'all remember that issue the legislature said I said we're gonna I don't want to do it we're gonna take the name off but we then we'll call it what we want to call it when it passes she agreed with that I said I gotta take some of this stuff out about three four points and said no you're gonna take that out and then she said Rodney you what's wrong with you man you went to the lbj school you use some lbj tactics tell us people I'm sick she said do I need to walk out there and fall out on the floor of the Senate as God is my witness Sopronia she come over that sit I can't call the senator's name that was really blocking it she went up and got in the woman's face and then just fell back in the chair I know it was in the paper and I know Ruth is really sick this is this woman's gonna pass this bill out of the house and then pass it on the Senate it's a major piece of legislation it's a simple concept when the airplane goes down we don't say stuff happens civil area night's boy asked what went wrong so it really is innocence commission so when somebody in houston dallas bare counties is wrongfully convicted you ask hard questions on why so you don't do it again that's roofland roof mclendon's legacy that is a legacy and she wasn't gonna stop there she wanted a serious public defender's office in bare county commissioner she wanted to talk about bail reform in bare county not just Harris County if you really care about Ruth don't stop because she stopped you marched on king's birthday you marched to continue that battle third point then but she loves you you were the apple of her eye she loves your blended family she loved all these children and she talked about them all the time we thank you as well as the people of bare county for sharing another great one from san antonio you know after that i don't think i need to say anything my name is rosalind gidry anderson and although i live here in san antonio texas i'm from houston texas i grew up in houston texas in pleasantville ruth would say to me rosalind you from fifth what i said about my sister i'm from pleasantville where the first black city consulate came from jesson robinson and you're right mr ellis never get on her wrong side because you know what she said to me i am god's favorite child so i knew if i was on her wrong side not only would she be mad at me but god would be mad at me so ruth knew how to do several things she knew how to give orders but most of all she knew how to love she loved denver she loved the family and she loved god but you know what else she loved she loved the city she came from houston texas so let's not get confused i want to say thank you houston texas for sharing ruth with san antonio texas and bare county i want to say weedly high school i know you here please stand because she loved weedly high school she loved texas southern university and texas southern university along with was the president of i think tsu as well as the law school jane stuggles who was also a student if you knew mrs welch who fought hard for this community that was one of her students her favorite math students texas southern university i know you're in the house please stand and houston texas i know you are in the house whether you went to any of those schools or any of those churches all of houston texas who gave ruth jones mclendon to san antonio texas please stand so as you can see houston is in the house so i've shared with you and so many of you have shared ruth love ruth's love for people her family and god but ruth also loved to tell you what to do and i was one of her favorites to tell what to do christmas time one of her favorite seasons as mentioned she loved to give christmas toys to the young children here on the east side and she would say rustling in his christmas and i would say and and she would say and uh i said oh don't get on the wrong side because you got god and ruth to deal with i said well ruth what do i need to do wear the toys i had a friend in san antonio texas who ruth helped out several times her child had gone to jail they would actually take bikes and fix bikes well guess what those bikes would go where to district two in san antonio texas every christmas so didn't get on her bath but got christmas taken care of the biggest thing that she did was to say to me mere syvester turner is running for mayor i said i live in san antonio texas she said but you got all those ghidries and those guerrillas and all those relatives you know you catholic and your family's bread they had tens and twenty children and they're in houston texas not louisian anymore get them out to boat i got on my knees and prayed because i did not want to lose that mayor syvester turner please stand because you've done an outstanding job in houston and i did not and that i did not have to deal with god or ruth and thank you for what you did for the victims of harvey and you continued to do so thank you and a well-kept secret and she's not here to share this a dear dear friend that anna burns banks she would be the first to tell you ruth loved to spend our money didn't she regina she loved to spend she was going to south africa and she says you will go i said oh i'm not part of that group i don't have that money and i'm sure you guys have people that will be helping you out who's gonna help me out she says sister did deep because you will be there and i enjoyed that was a trip that i will never forget i learned a lot and i enjoyed a lot i will miss my sister so much in her last days maybe two or three weeks diana and i went to visit her we were talking and you know both of us talk a lot and talk fast and so did she but she was listening and we were talking as though she wasn't there so she said to us hell do you think i'm stupid i know you who you're talking about and you didn't ask me anything i said oh my i am so sorry she said don't be sorry just shut up so we did as she was going through transition we went to visit her she couldn't talk she could barely open her eyes but you know what she made that sound i said our sister is here diana she said yeah but are we doing anything wrong she said i said i guess not she's still talking to us so with that i just want to thank the family for including me as a part of this celebration i want to thank father kevin for doing such an outstanding job i want to thank houston texas and our mayor and the mayor houston my mayor too and the mayor of houston texas and all of the representatives and new james and everyone for being here and all of our sisters and all of our organizations that are here the knights and ladies the hundred black women delta sigma theta the link sorority and anyone that i have missed i want to thank you because she loved all of you so much and i know you loved her god bless all of you and god bless the family ross you know you can say what you want to about houston but ruth was from san antonio and she's ours we're not going to let you take her away from us let me tell you you know i i have the easiest job up here today because denver asked me to talk about ruth as a friend everyone in this room is with seren i can see her laugh and her smile on your faces you all loved her like we did she was all of our friend and we loved her dearly i remember so many times y'all probably do too those calls but not too early in the morning because ruth was not a morning person and she never got up but she'd call in the first scene she'd say says how are lauren the kids and then she'd tell me some funny story about denver we all laughed and started laughing and 20 minutes later we'd still be laughing and hang up the phone and we forgot to even talk about whatever she was calling about that was ruthy you know always upbeat always making you believe that she was the most important thing in your life you know i remember when ruth was first elected to the legislature they have as a customary to swear in the new legislators on the floor of the house but there was a terrible ice storm that closed all the roads between san antonio and austin and so i used to kid that ruth says ruthy you'll be a state rep as soon as hell freezes over but during the swearing in ceremony we obviously her immediate family could not come up there and join her except for denver and me and i was happened to be there and uh they started heading the floor of the house and ruthy looked at me and said let's go and so we walked down to the floor of the house and i watched her be sworn in and the next day in the newspaper there was a big front page photo of ruth being sworn in and i'm sitting there right next to her and she got that article wrote the top says looking good son you know i've never received a higher compliment in my life than that that was the secret to ruth's success with her love for life and her joyous personality how could anyone ever tell her no that's why she was loved by so many people like all of you in this room now commissioner calbert talked about when she ran for office the first time for city council about how the responsiveness was the key to the campaign and ruth is walking to a big meeting like this a big neighborhood meeting and she'd yell out if you call me i'll call you back let's try that right now if you call me i'll call you back you know i wish i could call her back i wish i could call her back but ruthy's been called home ruthy's been called home to the lord who clearly is pleased with one of his favorite children sitting next to him no more pain and sorrow just the poor pure joy that ruthy gave to each of us that pure joy we love you ruthy we'll miss you denver my dear friend i appreciate you letting me step in before you my name is donna duke's i'm a state representative from austin texas representative helen getting spoke for me a little while ago um dember you'll find this quite interesting do you remember some time ago i was supposed to meet ruth at the checkpoint at ta and i was uh i think i was on the phone or doing something and i missed the exit and ended up somewhere in luckin or lockard or something like that and i called you and ruth and said i can't you know my my gps is messing up i can't find my my way to get to you guys and i can't say what dember said because we're we are in in church but um do you know i missed that exit today and i was in lockard and i called ruth i just stayed on the road just kept driving kept driving and kept driving to get here leila wanted to be here but uh maybe we'll see her later today ruth was one of my closest friends we were desk mates for oh gosh over 12 14 years and more than being desk mates we were sisters in christ loving catholicism loving the links loving the legislature if you were in the battle and you needed someone to cover your back ruth could do it for you and she'd do it for you with the smile and trying to think of what to say today about ruth there were so many things within her being the godmother of my child and having the honor of being made of honor when she and dember renewed their vows just having ruth was was a positive in my life that your mother you know how she felt about you so proud of you angela meredith oh when she was playing weddings and things ruth did everything right i did everything wrong uh ruth would cover for me mr speaker right all the time uh and her sense of humor about life was just joyful as frank said joyful always smiling always happy and she would want all of us to be happy now i'm not going to get you she wants you to shed some tears too she wants you to miss her and i've missed her since the day she left the house and miss her even more now but one thing ruth and i held strongly was that the body is only the vessel of spirit and she will always be with us and she was probably with me today because if you ever had the opportunity to ride in the car when ruth was driving uh you would know directions stop signs stop lights were not for ruth not for ruth the last time she drove me my knuckles were white i got out the car and i called dember and i said have you rolled with her lately um she won't be riding in that jaguar anymore here but ruth is stepping and she's dancing and she's smiling and she's legislating because that's what she loved march 13th 2013 one of our linked sisters pastor henryetta mcquanacy gave the opening invocation to the legislature and it is a prayer that so many of us in the legislature enjoy it and ruth as well because henryetta who is a friend of ruth as well spoke about our mission on earth and our expectations by god and by god ruth lived up to that in closing henryetta said what you do in legislating for the state of texas you want to ensure that at the end of the day the lord will say well done good and faithful servant and ruth well done i can't believe all the lies you people told on me to father kevin thank you for your leadership of this church you threw it out of the ballpark today ruth would have appreciated those words and you said you didn't get political you got very political uh this is a sad time and a joyous time we of course will miss ruth but we know that there is no more suffering no more frail body the old hatnick saying oh she's in a better place well she is we know that um you talked about her spirituality and dana mentioned that ruth would tell anybody god loves me more than he loves you and i think she believed that too last night we talked about our relationship and family relationship and i'm not going to repeat that i'd like to talk about two things one is a public service announcement the other is a political statement ruth passed a bill that didn't get a lot of attention it and declared april as minority cancer awareness month let me repeat that minority cancer awareness month and tony has been trying to carry the load on that she's going to need some help so for you existing legislators see if you can help her cancer awareness especially us men we don't want to go to the doctor and when we go it's too late so ruth's purpose was and she was very vocal about her cancer and and how it affected her and she in fact had an early intervention which allowed her to last for 10 years so push the word minority cancer awareness second issue when i go to heb someone will stop me and say aren't you the husband of ruth i said no but she's my wife and that person would say you know i just want to thank her let me tell you what they were thinking her for ruth had a program everybody 60 and over in her district would receive a birthday card now if you are a politician and you want to stand for election that's why ruth never got any opposition in serious opposition but the impact of those birthday cards especially on someone who's living alone don't get any attention from anybody else that was a significant thing and like i say every day people would approach me saying how much they appreciated that little act of kindness uh it's not great legislation but it's letting uh people know that somebody cares somebody here all right there has been such an outpouring of support words of thanks um food everything and i'm not going to call any names you know who you are thank you on behalf of the family thank you uh on behalf of the legacy of ruth thank you with that i'm going to sit down i would like to just recognize one other thing the city of houston has the proclamation i'm not going to read it but i will read the last sentence therefore i celestial turner mayor of the city of houston hereby proclaiming december 19 2017 as in memoriam ruth jones mclendon day in houston texas wonderful thing about ruth was she was a true stateswoman you know that i did not say politician i said stateswoman because a stateswoman and a statesman worry about the people rather than the party and ruth cared about people and she worked to make this city and this state a better place and she did it she did it well so we're grateful for that please stand for the final validation before we go our separate ways let us take leave of our sister may our farewell express our affection for her may it ease our sadness and strengthen our hope one day we shall jointly greet her again when the love of price which confers all things destroys even death itself in the sure and certain hope that together with all who have died in christ she will rise with him we give you thanks for the blessings which you bestowed upon ruth in this life they are signs to us of your goodness and of our fellowship with the saints in christ merciful lord turned toward us and listened to our prayers open the gates of paradise to your servant and help us who remain to comfort one another with assurances of faith until we all meet in christ and with you and with our sister forever we ask this through christ our lord in peace let us take our sister to her place of rest ruth may the angels lead you into paradise may the martyrs come to welcome you and take you to the holy city the new and eternal jerusalem may choirs of angels welcome you and lead you to the bosom of vapor ham and where lazarus is born no longer may you find eternal rest