To discover the gem that was Ruby Brown, there was no need to mine for or move rocks. Her glow blinding. She was remarkable. She wanted to brighten up your day with a compliment, fill your stomach with food, and her about your dreams and aspirations. She loved people and wanted to find out everything about them, so if they ever needed help, she already knew what to do. She never met a stranger. And she loved chickens.
Ruby’s glow began to shine in her hometown of Athens, Ala., and then illuminated in the European front when she joined her family in Germany, where her husband of 54 years, Ted, was stationed for many years during the Vietnam War. Calhoun County was next on the list when the family of four returned to the United States. Anyone from Alexandria across to Jacksonville down to Oxford and up to Piedmont knew Ruby was more than just a diamond in the rough. She was the best.
Ruby was the foundation of a family that included a daughter, Felicia (Charles) Greene, and a son, Dale (Tina) Brown. Her grandchildren — Christopher, Brittany, and Jasmine — and filled her home and porch with laughter, memories, and enough biscuit crumbs on the floor to feed a village, which Ruby always did with a smile.
There was always one unspoken question inside Ruby’s home: you know I love you, right? It was never asked because the answer was always understood. Yes, yes, we know you love us. And we love you, too.
Ruby’s time on Earth came to an end Sunday morning, May 8th, 2022, following a lengthy battle with leukemia and lupus. She was preceded in death by her parents, Herman and Nellie Roberts of Athens, her brothers: DC Roberts, Martin Roberts, James Roberts. She is survived by two sisters, Vaughnie Faulkner and Mary Miller, and three bothers: Leon, Clayburn and Ray Roberts.
