Ruth Wesley Brooks Edwards Rotowitz

Asheville - Ruth Wesley Brooks Edwards Rotowitz, 85, died Friday, February 7, 2003 at Mission St. Josephs Health System. Mrs. Rotowitz was born August 31, 1917 to the late William Curtis Brooks of Balsam and the late Myrtle Patton Brooks of Haywood County. She was a granddaughter of the late John Brooks and Mary Jane Ensley of Jackson County and the late John Wesley Patton and Katherine Powers of Haywood County. Mrs. Rotowitz was descended from the Matthew and Aaron Patton Family of Bee Tree, the North Fork area of the Swannanoa Valley. They were one of Western North Carolinas first families and on the Buncombe County Census of 1790. Her progenitor in America was Matthew Patton of Loundon Plantation in Pennsylvania. She was preceded in death by her dear sister, Hazel Brooks Smith, brothers, Jack and Aldon Robert Brooks, husbands, Kenneth B. Edwards of Madison County and Joseph B. Rotowitz. She attended Woodfin School and was an active leader in her community for many years. Her life was characterized by devotion for her family, loving hospitality and a love of music. She was a gifted singer of Traditional Mountain Music and collaborated with Bascom Lamar Lunsford, legendary music historian and founder of the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival. Her family were founding members of Riverside Baptist Church and she recently joined Friendship Baptist Church. She is survived by her two sons, William E. Edwards and Kenneth C. Edwards both of Asheville; daughters, Mrs. Denise Edwards Goodson of Asheville and Patricia E. Colmenares of Tampa, FL; grandsons, James Brooks Edwards of Clever, MO, Jeffery Boyd Edwards of Republic, MO, Dr. Nicholas Colmenares, Jr. of Tampa, FL, Kenneth A. Edwards of Asheville, Scott B. Edwards on board the U.S.S. Saipan of the US Navy, and Joseph Butler Edwards of Asheville; granddaughters, Wes- Leigh Goodson Hensley and Anna Goodson Hasskamp of Asheville, Katherine Patton Colmenares, ESQ. of Santa Barbara, CA. Mrs. Rotowitz was also blessed with 7 great grandchildren, several nieces and nephews and sisters, Helen Brooks Gentry McDaris, Jennell Brooks Tate, and Jeanne Brooks Rathburn all of Asheville; brother, Harold William Brooks of Long Beach, CA, and uncle, Dewey Patton of Etowah. Funeral services will be held at 2 PM Sunday, in the Anders-Rice Funeral Home Chapel with the Mr. Morris Trammel, Dr. Ian Walker and Rev. Jerry Wilson officiating. Burial will be in Green Hill Cemetery, Waynesville. Pallbearers will be Jeffery Boyd Edwards, Joseph Butler Edwards, Dr. Nicholas Colmenares, Jr., Dr. Nicholas Colmenares, Sr., Kenneth Amos Edwards, Everette Britt Tate, Gerald Gentry, David Rathburn, William Hasskamp, and Lawrence Hensley. Honorary pallbearers will be Scott Edwards, James B. Edwards, Leroy Goodson and Robert Rathburn. The family will receive friends from 5 until 7 PM Saturday at the funeral home and following at the residence of Kenneth Edwards, 30 Kensington Dr., Asheville, NC.