Ruth "Trudy" Hausler Miller Graves (86) passed on at sunrise Sunday, February 28, 2016 in Austin, Texas, where she was born and spent her early youth. A 5th generation Texan, Ruth moved to San Antonio with her parents, Nell and Alton E. Hausler, and graduated from Brackenridge High School in 1946, already an enthusiastic artist and musician. She was inspired to design her own clothing, and her mother made patterns and sewed her designs. She studied art at the University of Texas in Austin, where friends gave her the nickname "Trudy," then returned to San Antonio to work as an illustrator and administrative assistant at Kelly AFB.
In 1951, Trudy was thrilled to be crowned Miss Kelly AFB and Miss San Antonio. Soon after, she married the love of her life, Johnn T. Miller, and they headed west. Trudy/Ruth completed a BFA in Studio Art at the University of Southern California in 1958 and she and Johnn moved to the Bay Area, where he became a business professor, and they started a family and put down roots for 17 years. She began teaching, a career she would joyfully continue for over 30 years, teaching vocational Advertising Art at Fox Tech and Lanier High Schools in downtown San Antonio after their marriage ended.
Ruth invested her talents and energies in her young students and in her love of the arts, dancing competitively, performing in lead roles in San Antonio music theatre, singing in the church choirs, playing piano, and drawing and painting. She took her art students to contests all over Texas and won state and citywide awards and business contracts with her students, a number of whom later became professional artists/designers. Her classroom was a creative haven, and to many she was like a second mom. She was known for her eternally positive attitude, bubbly personality, and kindness, always seeing the best in people and sometimes investing more time taking care of others than herself, including her beloved dogs.
Ruth married local contractor Joseph R. Graves, and they eventually moved back to Austin to be near her family after they retired. When Joseph passed away, Ruth and Johnn rekindled their relationship and spent the last years of their lives living together in Austin, writing a happy ending to their love story that transcended Johnn's sudden passing in 2015.
In 1951, Trudy was thrilled to be crowned Miss Kelly AFB and Miss San Antonio. Soon after, she married the love of her life, Johnn T. Miller, and they headed west. Trudy/Ruth completed a BFA in Studio Art at the University of Southern California in 1958 and she and Johnn moved to the Bay Area, where he became a business professor, and they started a family and put down roots for 17 years. She began teaching, a career she would joyfully continue for over 30 years, teaching vocational Advertising Art at Fox Tech and Lanier High Schools in downtown San Antonio after their marriage ended.
Ruth invested her talents and energies in her young students and in her love of the arts, dancing competitively, performing in lead roles in San Antonio music theatre, singing in the church choirs, playing piano, and drawing and painting. She took her art students to contests all over Texas and won state and citywide awards and business contracts with her students, a number of whom later became professional artists/designers. Her classroom was a creative haven, and to many she was like a second mom. She was known for her eternally positive attitude, bubbly personality, and kindness, always seeing the best in people and sometimes investing more time taking care of others than herself, including her beloved dogs.
Ruth married local contractor Joseph R. Graves, and they eventually moved back to Austin to be near her family after they retired. When Joseph passed away, Ruth and Johnn rekindled their relationship and spent the last years of their lives living together in Austin, writing a happy ending to their love story that transcended Johnn's sudden passing in 2015.
Ruth "Trudy" Hausler Miller Graves (86) passed on at sunrise Sunday, February 28, 2016 in Austin, Texas, where she was born and spent her early youth. A 5th generation Texan, Ruth moved to San Antonio with her parents, Nell and Alton E. Hausler, and graduated from Brackenridge High School in 1946, already an enthusiastic artist and musician. She was inspired to design her own clothing, and her mother made patterns and sewed her designs. She studied art at the University of Texas in Austin, where friends gave her the nickname "Trudy," then returned to San Antonio to work as an illustrator and administrative assistant at Kelly AFB.
In 1951, Trudy was thrilled to be crowned Miss Kelly AFB and Miss San Antonio. Soon after, she married the love of her life, Johnn T. Miller, and they headed west. Trudy/Ruth completed a BFA in Studio Art at the University of Southern California in 1958 and she and Johnn moved to the Bay Area, where he became a business professor, and they started a family and put down roots for 17 years. She began teaching, a career she would joyfully continue for over 30 years, teaching vocational Advertising Art at Fox Tech and Lanier High Schools in downtown San Antonio after their marriage ended.
Ruth invested her talents and energies in her young students and in her love of the arts, dancing competitively, performing in lead roles in San Antonio music theatre, singing in the church choirs, playing piano, and drawing and painting. She took her art students to contests all over Texas and won state and citywide awards and business contracts with her students, a number of whom later became professional artists/designers. Her classroom was a creative haven, and to many she was like a second mom. She was known for her eternally positive attitude, bubbly personality, and kindness, always seeing the best in people and sometimes investing more time taking care of others than herself, including her beloved dogs.
Ruth married local contractor Joseph R. Graves, and they eventually moved back to Austin to be near her family after they retired. When Joseph passed away, Ruth and Johnn rekindled their relationship and spent the last years of their lives living together in Austin, writing a happy ending to their love story that transcended Johnn's sudden passing in 2015.
In 1951, Trudy was thrilled to be crowned Miss Kelly AFB and Miss San Antonio. Soon after, she married the love of her life, Johnn T. Miller, and they headed west. Trudy/Ruth completed a BFA in Studio Art at the University of Southern California in 1958 and she and Johnn moved to the Bay Area, where he became a business professor, and they started a family and put down roots for 17 years. She began teaching, a career she would joyfully continue for over 30 years, teaching vocational Advertising Art at Fox Tech and Lanier High Schools in downtown San Antonio after their marriage ended.
Ruth invested her talents and energies in her young students and in her love of the arts, dancing competitively, performing in lead roles in San Antonio music theatre, singing in the church choirs, playing piano, and drawing and painting. She took her art students to contests all over Texas and won state and citywide awards and business contracts with her students, a number of whom later became professional artists/designers. Her classroom was a creative haven, and to many she was like a second mom. She was known for her eternally positive attitude, bubbly personality, and kindness, always seeing the best in people and sometimes investing more time taking care of others than herself, including her beloved dogs.
Ruth married local contractor Joseph R. Graves, and they eventually moved back to Austin to be near her family after they retired. When Joseph passed away, Ruth and Johnn rekindled their relationship and spent the last years of their lives living together in Austin, writing a happy ending to their love story that transcended Johnn's sudden passing in 2015.
Inscription
Miss San Antonio 1951
Ruth "Trudy" Hausler
1929-2016
Artist and Teacher
Loving Wife and Mother
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
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