Ruth Lynn (Baird) Prados

Ruth Lynn (Baird) Prados passed into eternal life peacefully at her Knoxville home surrounded by family. She had celebrated her 95th birthday on March 7, 2025 and was able to participate in family vacations and activities until a severe decline in her health due to Parkinson’s in her final years. She is survived by her husband John Prados who shared 73 wonderful years of marriage with her. She is also survived by daughter and husband, Elizabeth and Fred Bowman, daughter Laura Prados, daughter and husband Anne and Ashby Lynch, granddaughter and husband Mary Beth Aguilar and Alfredo Aguilar, granddaughter and husband Laura Lynch Mace and Tim Mace, granddaughter Caroline Prados Burks; great grandchildren, Virginia Mace, Selina Aguilar, Diego Aguilar, and Frankie Mace. She was always her children’s greatest advocate, including those she “adopted” along the way, and she is greatly missed!

Lynn was born in 1930 in a small reputedly haunted antebellum home on Woodson Ridge near Oxford MS. She relished sharing spooky tales with her children and grandchildren. When she was 8 her family moved to a cotton farm near Marks, MS, (yes, she could and did chop cotton). She became quite mechanically savvy helping her father rebuild tractors and farm equipment as a young girl. She had a delightfully mischievous sense of humor which endeared her to those around her to the very end of her life.

In 1948, she graduated from Marks High school after miraculously surviving being hit by a truck while exiting a school bus at age 17. After several months of convalescing, she completed her senior year as valedictorian and class president. She was also voted senior superlative for most expressive face which was one of her most defining characteristics throughout her life! After high school, she attended Jones County Junior College in Laurel, MS for a year, and then she attended the University of Mississippi and graduated with a degree in chemistry and an additional degree in biology.

She met John, a fellow student, at the school library and he was smitten at once and began courting her shortly afterwards. They graduated in 1951 and married in Oxford MS at St. John’s Catholic church. She followed John to Biloxi, MS, to Albuquerque, NM, and Presque Isle, ME as he fulfilled his ROTC duty to the Air Force. After his time in the US Air Force, John did graduate studies at the University of Tennessee. Lynn trained and worked as a lab technician at old St. Mary’s Hospital until the birth of their first daughter, Elizabeth, another miracle. She had been told that after her accident, she would not be able to have children. Two more daughters followed as John finished his graduate studies and began working in the UT chemical engineering department. For a while, Lynn was a stay-at-home mom, immersed in the care of her daughters and sharing her many interests with them. She completed the Famous Artists correspondence course, submitted artwork to the Dogwood Arts festival and took classes locally in pastel portraiture. She did portraits of her children and her mother and even did a commission for one of our parish priests of his parents. She was an accomplished seamstress who made her own wedding dress and enjoyed making clothing for herself and daughters and teaching them to sew as well. She was a girl scout leader and president of the school PTA, always involved in her children’s lives and activities and encouraging them in every way.

She came from a very musical family. Her mother had taught her to play the piano when she was a child and she played mandolin in the family band. As an adult, she took up the guitar. She enjoyed singing and playing the guitar with the St. John XXIII University Parish music groups. She took classical guitar lessons for several years and loved to attend Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp in Maryville annually with her dear friend Ruth Smith. She and John even went on a bluegrass cruise which she enjoyed greatly!

When her youngest daughter Anne was in elementary school, she obtained her certification as a medical technologist. She worked outside the home until family once again called for her full attention. She cared for her first grandchild, Mary Beth while her parents worked. Eventually, her father, after her mother’s death, and her in-laws came to live in her and John’s home. She managed medications, doctor’s appointments, dietary restrictions and the home, all while taking care of a young child. Wonder woman! We are astounded at how she somehow did it all, filling each day with love and compassion.

After, taking care of their elderly parents until their passing, she was faced with the difficult challenge of breast cancer which eventually spread to both breasts. With her usual bravery and perseverance, she overcame the disease and the treatments, surviving to enjoy many more years of life with her family. After recovery, she had time to travel some with John who was still working at UT as an administrator. John had always traveled a good deal for his work. Now, she joined him in going to some of his more interesting destinations such as Columbia, Brazil, England, Germany, France, Scotland and Japan. She enjoyed traveling to the UK for her granddaughter Mary Beth’s graduation from Liverpool Hope University. They also traveled throughout the US and took a Russian river cruise with friends from church and a train across Canada. They especially enjoyed a trip following the footsteps of St. Paul through Greece and Turkey organized by Fr. Eric Andrews, a long time pastor and dear friend. Daughter Laura planned numerous family trips to Disney World and Lynn went along, moving from a scooter to a wheelchair as her mobility decreased but enjoying the time with her growing family. She spent the final years of her life happily watching her great grandchildren grow and making all of our lives richer and more joyful with her presence.

The family offers special thanks to the wonderful caregivers and medical professionals who supported Mom and all of us as her health declined. We especially thank the staff and caregivers of Right at Home health care, particularly Christine Ross and Tashira Torres, our angels! We also thank the nurses and doctors of UT Hospice Care who cared for Mom during the final months of her life and made those challenging times easier for all of us.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. John XXIII University Parish at 4:00 p.m. on June 29, 2025 with a reception following. Graveside service will be at Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery at 11:00 a.m. on June 30, 2025.

Memorial donations may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation or Young-Williams Animal Center.