Rubye Prestage Love, 103, passed away Saturday, July 27, 2024, at Charleston Place in Fulton, surrounded by her family. She was born November 14, 1920, in Itawamba County, to Chester Allen and Martha Wood West. She attended Itawamba County Schools and was a 1939 graduate of Itawamba Agriculture High School, where she was the 2023 Alumni of the year. She attended Mississippi State University in her early years. During World War II, she worked in Huntsville, Alabama. She returned home and taught first grade for ten years and was a teacher assistant for 21 years at Fulton Grammar School. She was a member of Trinity Baptist Church where she taught Beginner’s class for 13 years. She was a leader for the Girls Scouts Troop 70 and also a Den mother to the Boy Scouts. She loved working with children.
In 1945, she married Hollis W. Prestage. During his military career, they lived in several different States. They had two children, Nat W. Prestage and Shauna P. Sansing, until his death on January 21, 1955. In 1959, she married John W. Love. They had one son, John W. Love, Jr., and they made their home in Fulton. Rubye was a member of the Edelweiss Garden Club, where she was president from 1997-1999, and also a member of the Retired Teachers of Itawamba County.
Services will be 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 30, at the McNeece-Morris Funeral Home Chapel in Fulton with Bro. Don Baggett officiating. Burial will be in the Hillcrest Masonic Cemetery.
Survivors include, three children, Nat W. Prestage (Cindy) of Oxford, and Shauna Sansing (Bill), of Madison, and John W. “Bill” Love, Jr. (Lisa) of Fulton; four grandchildren, Trey Love, Hunter Love, Todd Sansing, and Paige Blackburn (Scott); two great grandchildren, Charlie Blackburn and Margaret Blackburn; one sister, Betty Jacobs.
She was preceded in death by her two husbands; one granddaughter, Peyton Prestage; three sisters, Lee Sudduth, Cumi Rogers, and Martha Hassie “Dood” Spencer; one brother, James Allen West; and her parents.
Pallbearers will be Bob Gordon, Tom Douglas, Wesley Riley, Larry Brown, Keith Spencer, and Jason Campbell.
Dr. Randy Collins will serve as an honorary pallbearer.
Visitation will be Monday night from 5:00-7:00 p.m. and on Tuesday from noon until service time at the McNeece-Morris Funeral Home in Fulton.
In lieu of flowers, Memorials may be made to the Trinity Baptist Church Building Fund.
The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the tender and loving care given by Charleston Place, Sanctuary Hospice staff, and her personal caregivers.
