Rita Bratton

Rita Bratton, 71, passed away peacefully on August 1, 2020, in Tomball, Texas, following a valiant battle with Alzheimer’s.  Beloved wife, mother and grandmother, she was sweet, soft-spoken and loved dearly by all who knew her.  Rita was one of six children born to Dr. William Raphael Bruner and Mary Margaret McElligott Bruner in Hobbs, New Mexico on March 14, 1949.  She was a member of the Hobbs High School class of 1967.  While a sophomore at Hobbs High, she met and began dating the love of her life, Don Bratton, whom she married at First Baptist Church in Hobbs on August 30, 1969.  After marriage, Rita and Don lived in California, Arizona, Texas and Louisiana as the United States Air Force and the oil and gas industry moved them across the country.  They returned to their hometown of Hobbs in 1985.  Rita’s family was her pride and joy.  She loved being a mother, grandmother, homemaker and volunteering with her church and in the community.  Rita loved the Lord and she and Don were long time members of Taylor Memorial Baptist Church, where she volunteered with the children’s choir programs and Vacation Bible School for many years.  She was also very involved with the Christian Women’s Club of Hobbs and Meals on Wheels.  Rita and Don spent many months in Santa Fe, New Mexico as Don fulfilled his terms in the NM State Legislature, where they built close friendships with fellow NM lawmakers and their wives.  Over the years, she and Don enjoyed travels to Japan, South Korea, Tahiti, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Vancouver, Calgary, various islands in the Caribbean and many State and National Parks in the United States and Canada.  Rita loved travelling, nature and admiring the beauty of God’s creations.  Rita was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Michael Bruner.  She is survived by one sister; Karen, three brothers; Bill, John and Paul.  Rita is also survived by Don, her husband of 50 years, daughter Laura McCabe and her husband Brett, of The Woodlands, Texas, daughter Donna Johnson and her husband Jason, of The Woodlands, Texas, and son Brent and his wife Misti of Lubbock, Texas.  She is also survived by her seven grandchildren, Megan, Colin and Carson McCabe, Ryan and Joshua Young, Jayci Donaldson and Pierce Bratton.