HARLINGEN — Ruthie Ewers isn’t a regular Winter Texan.
After running one of the state’s biggest direct mail marketing businesses, Ewers became a Harlingen community leader, serving on more than 20 boards and running political campaigns.
“I’m a professional volunteer — that’s all I do,” Ewers said.
Nearly 20 years ago, Ewers and her husband planned to retire after they sold their family business in Dallas.
Settling down as Winter Texans, they bought a home in Palm Valley.
But soon, Ewers was reinventing herself as one of Harlingen’s movers and shakers.
“When I see something that needs me, I see the opportunity and take it,” she said. “I’m a people person — I love people. I get a thrill from ringing the bell for the Salvation Army at Christmas.”
Ewers says her luck’s been a big part of her success.
“Timing in life is everything — being at the right place at the right time,” she said.
The oldest of two children, she was born in 1940 in Watonga, Okla., where she helped her parents Joe and Carlene Souther raise cattle and wheat.
“Being raised on a farm was a great experience,” she said. “I had responsibilities I had to do.”
In high school, she married her sweetheart, Norbert Ewers, before leaving school in her senior year.
At 21, with two boys at home, she landed a job paying $1.15 an hour, putting labels on mail for a Houston-based distribution company.
“For two days I put on labels,” she said. “I put on more labels than anyone else.”
So she was promoted the company’s manager.
“From then on, I didn’t look back,” she said.
Eight years later, she moved to Dallas to run the company.
Ewers thinks her looks helped drive her success.
“One reason I’m an overachiever is I’ve always been heavy,” she said. “I felt I wasn’t as pretty as the other girls so I felt I had to overcome my shortcomings with my personality.”
By 1974, Ewers and her husband had teamed up with a partner to launch LEE Marketing, a direct mail marketing company, mailing as many as 2.2 million pieces a day.
Ten years later, sons Joe and Ron joined the business whose clients included General Motors, Dell Computers, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, the Dallas Cowboys, Universal Studios, Neiman Marcus, Dillard’s and Macy’s.
In 1997, she sold LEE Marketing after her family built the business into a $25 million-a-year powerhouse, employing 300 workers.
“I was tired,” Ewers said.
But after she burst onto Harlingen’s civic scene, Mayor Chris Boswell was calling her “the energizer bunny.” “I’m a Type A personality,” Ewers said. “I’m very goal-oriented. I have to see a goal at the end of a tunnel I want to reach.”
So far, she’s served as interim president and chairwoman of the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce, serving on 21 boards and raising more than $500,000.
“When I go on a board, I make up my mind what I want to do and how much I want to raise,” she said. “I never served on a board I didn’t contribute to. I give to them financially.”
Now, she’s setting her sights on raising money for the renovation the Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum.
“This is my biggest project ever,” she said.
Throughout her life, Ewers has embraced challenges, driving herself to succeed.
“It’s the American dream,” she said. “It’s a story that can only happen in America.”
But her family’s her deepest pride and joy, with four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
“I’ve been very blessed,” she said.
