Nella Mccracken

GRAVESIDE SERVICES: 1:00 P.M. Tuesday, January 17, 2017 BURIAL: Stag Creek Cemetery in Comanche County. Nella Ruth Allen McCracken, long-time resident of Houston and Montgomery, Texas, passed away January 12, 2017 at the age of 87. Born July 7, 1929 in Hillsboro, Texas. She attended Sidney Public Schools, and high school in Hillsboro, graduating at the age of 16. She then went to business school and studied bookkeeping and accounting. Ruth was fiercely independent and in 1968 she packed up her children and moved from Amarillo to Houston, Texas. She turned her attention to her family and career, retiring as the accounting manager and general office manager of the Houston office of French oil company, Elf Aquitaine, now known as Total. Ruth was a member of Eastern Star, an avid Bridge and Solitaire player, she had her pilot's license, was a voracious reader of American History, the Bible, and a dedicated member of First Montgomery Baptist Church. She loved all types of music, teaching herself how to play piano and guitar by ear at a young age, with a genuine fondness for Willie Nelson and KPFT radio. She loved having her house in Montgomery filled with the laughter of her children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers, and their children at Thanksgiving. She most especially enjoyed summer weeks spent at the beach with her family and September trips to Maine with her sisters. Ruth is survived by her son Michael Allen McCracken and his wife Gail Irons McCracken, daughter Patrice McCracken and son Matthew Edwin McCracken. Also by her adoring grandsons Benjamin R. Williams, Bryan A. Williams, Kyle A. McCracken, Trenton L. McCracken and wife Colleen, Clifton R. McCracken and wife Alisha, her precious great-grandchildren, Caleb, Lilliana, Sophia, Liam, and many nieces and nephews, all from Houston and surrounding areas. Ruth was predeceased by her parents, Zella Irene Arnold Allen and Sovern John Newton "Newt" Allen. Also by her sisters, Mary Kathryn "Katie" Merzbacher, Frances Plaster, Doris Wyatt, her brothers Basil and Robert “Bob” D. Allen, and nephew Robert Daniel “Danny” Allen.