Ruby Marie Mayo Bailey

Jan. 9, 1920 – Jan. 31, 2014

Ruby Mayo Bailey died Friday morning at the age of 94 after a brief illness.

Services will be held on Wednesday, Feb 5, at Hanes Lineberry North Elm Chapel at 1 p.m. The family will visit with friends prior to the service, from 12:30 – 1 p.m. Interment will follow at Westminster Gardens.

She was a strong woman, and very good one, and she had few regrets in life, except perhaps that she had to live so long without her husband of many years, Fred Terrell Bailey.

Though she lived most recently in Greensboro, She grew up in the Woodfin community, near Asheville, the only daughter of Susie Mae and Gabriel Mayo. She was a tomboy, who tried to match her older brothers, Edward and Clarence, step by step. If she didn’t quite succeed, it wasn’t for lack of trying.

In high school, she did a little of everything, including playing basketball. She was 5’2” … maybe. But she always thought she could have been quite a player if only she had known then that she needed glasses.

She also graduated first in her class and went on to Cecil’s Business College in Asheville. She was a beauty – “the girl with the million-dollar smile,” one boyfriend told her. But she chose another man to marry – handsome, shy, strong and looking for someone who would share his love. He was exactly a foot taller than she, and they couldn’t have been more different in temperament, but they complemented each other beautifully for 63 years.

They raised their one child, a daughter, with love and with much more patience than she sometimes deserved.

Like her mother before her, Ruby was active at her church, the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, and served as the first woman on its vestry. She had jobs through the years, most recently at Southern Bell in Asheville, before she and her husband retired to Kissimmee, Fla.

But she always said she thought she would have been a good nurse, and in truth, she was one. As a young mother, she helped take care of her own father after he had a series of strokes. She later was the caregiver for her mother, who fought a hard and unsuccessful battle against cancer in the days before hospice. Finally, she took care of her husband, as his health declined over a period of years, and he died at their home in her arms, which was as it should be.

She was a force of nature, even to the end, and she will be missed.

She is survived by her daughter, Teresa Bailey Prout, and Teresa’s husband, Bob; her grandsons, Brian Prout and Ross Prout; her sister-in-law, Rubena Bailey Smith; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Many have gone before her; among them, her husband; and her brothers, Clarence and Pete. Most recently, she lost her dear friend and sister-in-law, Geneva Mayo.

Memorials may be sent to the Alzheimer's Association National Office, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601 in memory of Ruby M. Bailey or to the charity of one’s choice.

Online condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com.