Ruth Ellen Brinkley

Ruth Ellen Brinkley, age 87 of Irving, Texas passed away on January 30, 2021. She was a Christmas baby, born on December 25, 1933 in Tulsa, Oklahoma to Emery and Zella Stogsdill. For 33 years she grew up and lived in the small town of Coffeyville, Kansas. In her younger years, she worked at the Kansas and then the Lone Star Army Ammunition Plants as a supervisor. One of her responsibilities included disposing of live bombs accidentally triggered during the manufacturing process. Her beliefs were spiritual along the Christian faith. Ruth enjoyed playing numerous instruments (all of which were self-taught by ear,) making ceramics and jewelry, playing word games, painting scenery and still life. Her claim to fame was developing the ICEE name and logo for the famous frozen drink for a local inventor and friend, Omar Knedlik, who owned the Dairy Queen in Coffeyville. Her ideas included icicles hanging from the block letters and a cute polar bear. Her compensation was free ice cream on every visit. Until the day she died, a small DQ vanilla cone was her favorite treat. Ruth was always getting stuck in awkward places. She and her mother used to park their car on Main Street just to watch the people go by. On one such occasion, as they sat talking, for some unknown reason Ruth decided to put first one leg and then the other through the steering wheel. They continued to watch the people and talk. When they were ready to go, Ruth found that she could not get her legs back out of the steering wheel. She stretched and contorted herself, trying everything she could to get loose. Her mother tried to help but it was no use! About that time, they happened to look up and noticed two men standing in a doorway watching and snickering at their futile efforts. The men soon walked over and (trying hard not to laugh) asked, "Ladies, would you like some help?" So, with one man in the backseat pulling from behind, the other man reaching through the window to help her legs and her mother lifting her bottom, they were finally able to extricate Ruth from the clutches of her steering wheel. Needless to say, she never tried that again. Ruth is survived by son Dann Taylor, daughter Jenny Holmes Glenn; grandchildren Mysti Malkove Hubka, Karie Taylor-Stephens, Micah Malkove and Jeremiah Glenn; Great-grandchildren Corey Horton, Ryan Horton, and Abigail Malkove; Sister Joann Benefiel, Brothers Earl Stogsdill and Vernon Stogsdill; many nieces, nephews and life-long friends including Barbara and Pete Stephens. Ruth is preceded in death by her parents; husbands; daughter Susan Taylor Malkove, daughter-in-law Brenda Murphy Taylor, sons-in-law Stephen Glenn and Mark Malkove; sisters Arlene Twitchell, Carolyn Sue Stogsdill and Nelda June Stogsdill, brother Donald Stogsdill. The family would like to thank the current and former staff of Northgate Plaza Nursing & Rehabilitation, including Zxanabou, who looked after Ruth for over 10 years. Due to COVID-19 restrictions a memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or plant a memorial tree for Ruth via the link on this website.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Ruth Ellen Brinkley, please visit our floral store.