Services for Ruth Denman, 91, of Huntington, were Sunday, Jan. 4, 2009 in the Gipson Funeral Home Chapel, with the Rev. Carl Du- Bose officiating. Interment followed in the Huntington Cemetery.

She was born June 14, 1917, in Angelina County, the daughter of the late Della Elizabeth (Arnold) and Joel Wiley Russell. She died Friday, Jan. 2, in a Huntington nursing facility.

She was a secretary/ bookkeeper for Poulan-Riteway Sheet Metal for seven years. She lived in Huntington since 1943, had resided in Angelina County all of her life and was a 1935 graduate of Rocky Hill High School. She had been a member of Little Hope Primitive Baptist Church since 1948 and was church clerk for 10 years. She joined the PTA in 1958 where she served as membership chairman and later as secretary of the Huntington PTA. She was also the chairperson of the Little Miss Huntington Pageant from 1958 to 1970.

Survivors include her daughter and son-in-law, Peggy J. and Keith Swearingen of Huntington; granddaughter, Amy Swearingen of Huntington; grandson, Todd Swearingen of Huntington; great-grandson, Colby Allen of Huntington; brothers, Dee Russell and Cletus Russell, both of Huntington; and a number of nieces, nephews and other family members.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Pershing Denman, on Dec. 16, 1967; four sisters; and two brothers.