Mary Ruth Barrett

On Thursday, September 8, 2021, Mary Ruth Barrett, wife, mother of two children, and grandmother of five grandchildren, passed away at the age of 77. She suffered from metastatic breast cancer and passed away at home surrounded by her family.

Mary Ruth was born on August 22, 1944 in Houston, Texas. She graduated from Bellaire High School in 1963 and soon after met her husband, John David Barrett, on a blind date. They were married on February 5, 1966 and celebrated their 55th anniversary this year. In addition to being a loving and caring mother to two children, she also worked in banking and real estate. She was a personal banker for First Interstate Bank of Texas for nine years, where she was Employee of the Month multiple times and Employee of the Year. As a real estate agent and broker, she operated her own property management company and acted as the broker for Waterlily Homes.

In her free time, Mary Ruth enjoyed poetry, loved animals, and delighted in gambling. She was a published poet, a Distinguished Member of The International Society of Poets, and received the Editor’s Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry from The National Library of Poetry. Her love of animals knew no bounds. She fed most of the cats in her neighborhood (plus a few racoons, possums, and skunks) and the well-being of animals was always her concern. She once fell and permanently dented her forehead saving a bird from a preying cat. Her favorite activity, though, was gambling and she loved playing the slots. When she couldn’t pull the handle in person, she often played slots on her iPad, making the iTunes gift-card her favorite gift on birthdays and at Christmas.

Mary Ruth was preceded in death by her mother, Shirley Cardwell. She is survived by her husband David, her two children, Susan and Michael, her five grandchildren, Adam, Emily, Sarah, Ava, and Zoe, and many cousins.

A funeral service for Mary will be held Saturday, September 18, 2021 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Forest Park Westheimer Funeral Home, 12800 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77077, followed by a committal service from 11:15 AM to 11:30 AM.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.forestparkwestheimer.com for the Barrett family.