Ruth Ann (Vieth) Billen
Ruth Ann (Vieth) Billen of Wichita Falls entered the loving arms of our Lord and joined her husband, Jack Howard Billen, on Saturday, June 6, 2026, one month before her 90th birthday. Services will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wichita Falls, Texas, on Friday, June 26, with Prayer and Closed Casket Visitation at 9a.m., Rosary at 9:30 a.m. and Funeral Liturgy at 10 a.m. Father Michael Maloney will officiate. Committal will immediately follow at Scotland Cemetery under the direction of Lunn’s Colonial Funeral Home of Wichita Falls. Viewing and visitations will be at Lunn’s in the days preceding the Memorial Mass. Livestream the services at https://sacredheartwf. org/livestream for those unable to attend.
Ruth was born on July 18, 1936, in Scotland, Texas, to the late Henry John and Louise (Ermis) Vieth and was raised in a farming family. After attending Archer City High School, she moved to Wichita Falls, where she worked for many years as personal assistant for one family before retiring to care for her aging parents. She married Jack Billen on April 12, 1993, and they shared 14 happy years together until his passing.
Ruth dedicated her life to our Lord and Jesus Christ. She was longtime member and avid attender of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. She advocated for the unborn children of Christ, distributing literature and participating in peaceful demonstrations for her cause. Perhaps Ruth is most known for her rosaries and religious items. In her lifetime, she handmade and gave away over 50,000 beaded rosaries and 3,100 scapulars, donated to those in need, those in prison and those in developing countries. She worked tirelessly at her craft and was always willing to teach others. Ruth was prominently featured in the publication of the North Texas Catholic news magazine entitled, “Millions of Beads, Countless Prayers.” Ruth’s passion for rosary making was inspired by the rosary her father brought back from a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France in the 1950s. She taught herself how to fix the rosary when it broke which began her calling. She cherished and maintained that original rosary until her passing.
Along with her husband and parents, Ruth was also preceded in death by her brothers, Richard James Vieth and Henry Vieth Jr., and sister, Betty (Vieth) Halencak.
Ruth is survived by her nieces, Cathy Halencak- Kahlig and husband David of North Richland Hills and Lucretia Doblado and Fred of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; great-niece, Rachel Jimenez and husband of Austin; great-nephew, Chris Kahlig of North Richland Hills, and the loving care of her best friend Cindy Sweeney of Wichita Falls.
