Ruby Irene Wilkes, was the daughter of Nelle Long and William "Guy" Brand. She was born among the hills of Cherokee County, GA, on April 25, 1918, in a clapboard farmhouse at the end of a red clay lane.
She attended a one-room grammar school, graduated from Marietta High School, in Marietta, GA, and attended the University of Georgia, Athens.
The dance of her life, though, happened at the world premier and grand ball of Gone with the Wind. As the then daughter-in-law of Georgia's governor, she was a member of the host family. Breath-taking in a rose satin gown, she was startled to find herself staring into the eyes of Clark Gable, as he kissed her hand and led her onto the ballroom floor for a waltz. She divorced Ed Rivers in 1946 in Brevard County, FL.
In 1946, she met Wilson B. "Flicker" Wilkes, a highly-decorated US Air Force pilot. They married in the Rollins College Chapel, in Winter Park, FL and moved to Adel, GA, his hometown, where they resided until 1966. She was widowed in 1969, while living in Atlanta, where they had moved for "Flicker" to accept the position of State Budget Director. Following his death, she returned to her late mother's Central Florida home.
When, in 1960, her mother died suddenly. In the last decade of her life, designing and planting butterfly gardens brought her total contentment. However, deep into her 60s, until medically unadvised, Ruby still loved a frosty margarita, a good smoke, and wearing hot pants with high boots. Her southern drawl could be as jaw-droppingly salty as it was magnolia sweet.
At 87, she climbed the Great Wall of China; at 90, she swam with sting rays and, as a yellow-dog Democrat, was a tireless Obama volunteer; at 92, she received a speeding citation, kept her own house and yard, loved internet Scrabble and would shop 'til she dropped, literally. She departed this earth in the evening of April 22, 2011, three days before her 93rd birthday.
Although Ruby recently lost Bitsy, her long-time canine companion, Blackie, the luckiest stray dog on the planet, still lies on the hot cement of her back deck where he appeared years ago, and where they warmed their arthritic bones together.
Preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her infant son E. D. Rivers, III; and "sister-cousins" Dorothy Tallent and Mildred Kile, she is survived by her daughter, Dee Rivers-Yowell; four grandchildren - Mark Musser, Jeff Musser, Jim Boatman and Melissa B. Linebaugh; eight great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
Ruby -- a most desirable gem of durability, luster and rarity.
She attended a one-room grammar school, graduated from Marietta High School, in Marietta, GA, and attended the University of Georgia, Athens.
The dance of her life, though, happened at the world premier and grand ball of Gone with the Wind. As the then daughter-in-law of Georgia's governor, she was a member of the host family. Breath-taking in a rose satin gown, she was startled to find herself staring into the eyes of Clark Gable, as he kissed her hand and led her onto the ballroom floor for a waltz. She divorced Ed Rivers in 1946 in Brevard County, FL.
In 1946, she met Wilson B. "Flicker" Wilkes, a highly-decorated US Air Force pilot. They married in the Rollins College Chapel, in Winter Park, FL and moved to Adel, GA, his hometown, where they resided until 1966. She was widowed in 1969, while living in Atlanta, where they had moved for "Flicker" to accept the position of State Budget Director. Following his death, she returned to her late mother's Central Florida home.
When, in 1960, her mother died suddenly. In the last decade of her life, designing and planting butterfly gardens brought her total contentment. However, deep into her 60s, until medically unadvised, Ruby still loved a frosty margarita, a good smoke, and wearing hot pants with high boots. Her southern drawl could be as jaw-droppingly salty as it was magnolia sweet.
At 87, she climbed the Great Wall of China; at 90, she swam with sting rays and, as a yellow-dog Democrat, was a tireless Obama volunteer; at 92, she received a speeding citation, kept her own house and yard, loved internet Scrabble and would shop 'til she dropped, literally. She departed this earth in the evening of April 22, 2011, three days before her 93rd birthday.
Although Ruby recently lost Bitsy, her long-time canine companion, Blackie, the luckiest stray dog on the planet, still lies on the hot cement of her back deck where he appeared years ago, and where they warmed their arthritic bones together.
Preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her infant son E. D. Rivers, III; and "sister-cousins" Dorothy Tallent and Mildred Kile, she is survived by her daughter, Dee Rivers-Yowell; four grandchildren - Mark Musser, Jeff Musser, Jim Boatman and Melissa B. Linebaugh; eight great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
Ruby -- a most desirable gem of durability, luster and rarity.
Ruby Irene Wilkes, was the daughter of Nelle Long and William "Guy" Brand. She was born among the hills of Cherokee County, GA, on April 25, 1918, in a clapboard farmhouse at the end of a red clay lane.
She attended a one-room grammar school, graduated from Marietta High School, in Marietta, GA, and attended the University of Georgia, Athens.
The dance of her life, though, happened at the world premier and grand ball of Gone with the Wind. As the then daughter-in-law of Georgia's governor, she was a member of the host family. Breath-taking in a rose satin gown, she was startled to find herself staring into the eyes of Clark Gable, as he kissed her hand and led her onto the ballroom floor for a waltz. She divorced Ed Rivers in 1946 in Brevard County, FL.
In 1946, she met Wilson B. "Flicker" Wilkes, a highly-decorated US Air Force pilot. They married in the Rollins College Chapel, in Winter Park, FL and moved to Adel, GA, his hometown, where they resided until 1966. She was widowed in 1969, while living in Atlanta, where they had moved for "Flicker" to accept the position of State Budget Director. Following his death, she returned to her late mother's Central Florida home.
When, in 1960, her mother died suddenly. In the last decade of her life, designing and planting butterfly gardens brought her total contentment. However, deep into her 60s, until medically unadvised, Ruby still loved a frosty margarita, a good smoke, and wearing hot pants with high boots. Her southern drawl could be as jaw-droppingly salty as it was magnolia sweet.
At 87, she climbed the Great Wall of China; at 90, she swam with sting rays and, as a yellow-dog Democrat, was a tireless Obama volunteer; at 92, she received a speeding citation, kept her own house and yard, loved internet Scrabble and would shop 'til she dropped, literally. She departed this earth in the evening of April 22, 2011, three days before her 93rd birthday.
Although Ruby recently lost Bitsy, her long-time canine companion, Blackie, the luckiest stray dog on the planet, still lies on the hot cement of her back deck where he appeared years ago, and where they warmed their arthritic bones together.
Preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her infant son E. D. Rivers, III; and "sister-cousins" Dorothy Tallent and Mildred Kile, she is survived by her daughter, Dee Rivers-Yowell; four grandchildren - Mark Musser, Jeff Musser, Jim Boatman and Melissa B. Linebaugh; eight great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
Ruby -- a most desirable gem of durability, luster and rarity.
She attended a one-room grammar school, graduated from Marietta High School, in Marietta, GA, and attended the University of Georgia, Athens.
The dance of her life, though, happened at the world premier and grand ball of Gone with the Wind. As the then daughter-in-law of Georgia's governor, she was a member of the host family. Breath-taking in a rose satin gown, she was startled to find herself staring into the eyes of Clark Gable, as he kissed her hand and led her onto the ballroom floor for a waltz. She divorced Ed Rivers in 1946 in Brevard County, FL.
In 1946, she met Wilson B. "Flicker" Wilkes, a highly-decorated US Air Force pilot. They married in the Rollins College Chapel, in Winter Park, FL and moved to Adel, GA, his hometown, where they resided until 1966. She was widowed in 1969, while living in Atlanta, where they had moved for "Flicker" to accept the position of State Budget Director. Following his death, she returned to her late mother's Central Florida home.
When, in 1960, her mother died suddenly. In the last decade of her life, designing and planting butterfly gardens brought her total contentment. However, deep into her 60s, until medically unadvised, Ruby still loved a frosty margarita, a good smoke, and wearing hot pants with high boots. Her southern drawl could be as jaw-droppingly salty as it was magnolia sweet.
At 87, she climbed the Great Wall of China; at 90, she swam with sting rays and, as a yellow-dog Democrat, was a tireless Obama volunteer; at 92, she received a speeding citation, kept her own house and yard, loved internet Scrabble and would shop 'til she dropped, literally. She departed this earth in the evening of April 22, 2011, three days before her 93rd birthday.
Although Ruby recently lost Bitsy, her long-time canine companion, Blackie, the luckiest stray dog on the planet, still lies on the hot cement of her back deck where he appeared years ago, and where they warmed their arthritic bones together.
Preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her infant son E. D. Rivers, III; and "sister-cousins" Dorothy Tallent and Mildred Kile, she is survived by her daughter, Dee Rivers-Yowell; four grandchildren - Mark Musser, Jeff Musser, Jim Boatman and Melissa B. Linebaugh; eight great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
Ruby -- a most desirable gem of durability, luster and rarity.
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