Dr. Ruby Jeanne Lanier

Born in Catawba County on October 30, 1934, she was the daughter of the late Edgar Henry and Nellie Ruth Pitts Lanier. In addition to her parents, her sisters Dorothy Miller and Gladys Lanier and her brother Paul Lanier preceded her in death.

She attended Lenoir-Rhyne College from 1952 to 1955, receiving an A.B. in elementary education. In 1959, she received an M.A. in elementary education from Appalachian State Teachers’ College and in 1971, an Ed.D. from Duke University.

Ruby taught elementary school for four years in Hickory, and at Appalachian’s Laboratory School for seven years after receiving her master’s degree. She served as an assistant professor at the College of Charleston from 1971 to 1974, teaching social studies, language arts, reading methods, and children’s literature. So that students in her methods class might have meaningful learning experiences working with inner-city students, she established a classroom in an inner-city school where she and these students worked daily with children. She also initiated and supervised a summer enrichment program for inner-city children and developed educational materials for the Upward Bound and Neighborhood Youth Corps programs.

Ruby joined the faculty at Appalachian in 1974 to teach North Carolina social studies. From 1975 until her retirement, she taught courses in state and local history and North Carolina history, and from 1980 to 1994, also taught a course in world civilization.

In addition to her outstanding teaching, service, and research efforts, one of her most remarkable contributions was the planning and directing of workshops, conferences, and study tours with Beulah Campbell, professor of children’s literature at Appalachian. Ruby and Campbell also planned and directed for teachers and librarians summer study tours of children’s literature and history in the British Isles (1977), Scandinavia (with professor of community planning and geography Ole Gade, 1979) and in New England (1982), where they met authors and illustrators of award-winning children’s books. They planned and directed a number of workshops and conferences, including the Inter-cultural Language Arts Festival in 1977; the 1979 International Children’s Literature Festival, funded by the North Carolina Endowment for the Humanities; and the 1983, a conference, “Understanding the Black Experience in Children’s Literature.”

In addition to her teaching responsibilities and active service on departmental committees, she established the History Learning Laboratory in 1978 and served as its director until 1985.

Ruby served effectively on institutional, state, and regional committees and boards, including the executive board and assistant editor of the journal of the North Carolina Council for Social Studies, the board of directors of the Western North Carolina Historical Association, and the board of the Watauga Historical Society. She was a member of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, the Southern Historical Association, the North Carolina Committee for the Advancement of History, the Federation of North Carolina Historical Societies, and the Organization of American Historians.

In 1974, Ruby published her book Blanford Barnard Dougherty, Mountain Educator, for which she was awarded the Thomas Wolfe Literary Award. For the public schools, she developed a series of filmstrips entitled Carolina! Carolina!, completed in 1988, a five-year project funded by the North Carolina Humanities Committee, the N.C. Division of Social Studies, and Appalachian.

In recognition of her excellence in teaching, professional advancement, and service to the university, Ruby was awarded the Outstanding Teacher Award in 1977. She also received the I.G. Greer Distinguished Professorship in History in 1983 and was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society.

Her niece Teresa Killian and husband Rick of Hickory; nephews Jonathan Miller and wife Karissa of Bethlehem and Patrick Miller of Newton; great niece and nephews Amy Killian of Hickory, Justin Killian and wife Tara of Hickory, and Logan Miller and wife Hannah of Virginia Beach, Virginia; great-great nieces and nephew Jordan Killian of Hickory, Emory Killian of Hickory, and Ashton Killian of Hickory; sister-in-law Doris Lanier of Hickory; brother-in-law Guy Miller of Hickory and a special cousin Trudy Penley of Granite Falls survive her.

Graveside service will be held Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 2:00 pm at St. Stephens Lutheran Church ELCA cemetery with Reverend Ernest Richards officiating.

Burial will follow in church cemetery.

Memorials in Ruby’s name may be given to the Alzheimer's Association P.O. Box 96011. Washington, DC 20090-6011 or St. Stephens Lutheran Church ELCA Cemetery Fund, 2259 12th Ave. NE, Hickory, NC 28601.

The family would like to thank the staff at Trinity Village (Trinity Terrace) for the excellent care they gave to Ruby during her stay there.

Online condolences may be left at www.hickoryfh.com

Arrangements are with Hickory Funeral Home.