For a woman who never had any children herself, she really did have quite a few. We all were her children. Whether you were a relative, a friend, or someone she worked with, you were part of Wootie's family. Wootie's friends were her family - her adoptive families.

When you think of Wootie, it's so easy to think about how caring she was, how supportive, how thoughtful, how generous.

Wootie couldn't even read a newspaper without thinking of everybody she knew. How many of us have received those famous Wootie-newspaper-clippings, labeled by her faithful typewriter, and mailed out every week. It could be said that she kept the post office in business.

Speaking of typewriters, even though it seemed like Wootie knew almost everyone or anyone anywhere you went, there was one stranger in her life: modern technology. It's believed that Wootie was the only 90-year-old living in a nursing home to have a typewriter and use it.

Also, for a woman who didn't drive, Wootie sure did get around. With her "one day at a time" philosophy, she certainly made the most out of every day during her ninety years.

There was the elephant ride with Mr. Harold T. Clark at the zoo. Also at the zoo, lived an ostrich by the name of Ruth, named in her honor.

Some of her hobbies included collecting pictures of priests and popes; collected Halle's and May Co. shopping bags; baking up some good 'ole chocolate fudge brownies; and simply being a Republican.

Wootie loved the telephone. She loved to talk to you on the telephone - as long as you didn't call while she was watching "Matlock", "Murder She Wrote", or in later years, "Coach".

For so many years, Wootie worked as a very loyal secretary to many prominent attorneys in Cleveland. She rode the bus everyday downtown, often to the Union Commerce Building.

Now Wootie, I gotta tell ya, you're on your final bus ride. No, it's not stopping at 1591, so you can put your keys back in your pocketbook, 'cause the door's already open. This bus ride is bound for glory. You always looked forward to it, and if you're not already there, this ride will take you to your reward.

There, Wootie will be reunited with her family around the old dinner table: Mama, Dada, Sister and Bill, Jimmy, Jimmy Jr. and Tommy. In case you never heard, Sis was the one with the six cesareans. What am I saying, if you knew Wootie, you already knew that. By the way, four of the six cesareans are here, but you probably already knew that, too.

You know, Wootie was so full of life, of smiles, of laughter, of love, of jokes. She had been truckin' along, and had been so healthy for so many years, we really thought she was going to survive everyone else in the family.

If you knew Wootie, you knew how strong she was in her faith. She loved God. She loved her family. She loved her friends who were her family. And she also loved Notre Dame. If there's ever a biography written about the great Anna Ruth Robertson, I think the title might be "God, Family, Notre Dame".

Wootie, we love you, and

May the Dear Lord bless You, as you go to your great reward.

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