Ruby McNeely Starnes, born December 2, 1933, in Fruitvale, Tennessee (Crockett County). She was the daughter of John and Pearl McNeely, the little sister of Leonard McNeely, and the wife of Eugene Starnes for 70 years and 11 months (140 anniversaries, but that's another story). Gene knew from the moment he saw her that she was "The One", and, well, he was right. On June 16, 1951, they made it official.

She was the mother to two amazing kids: Lisa McLarty (Charles) and Stephen Starnes (Becky), the grandmother to some exceptional grandkids: Megan Bryner (Will), JoAnne Miller (Tekoa), Aaron Starnes and LeAnna Moore (Jonathan), and great grandmother to John Henry Moore and Anna Jane Moore. Family was the center of her universe and she showed her love at all times, but especially on holidays where her widely admired BBQ chicken, homemade ice cream, and lemon cake made frequent appearances to a background symphony of happy children, lots of laughter, and summer cicadas.

Always a woman ahead of her time, Ruby managed both her loving home life and her professional careers with ease and grace. With her exceptional talents she filled a variety of professional roles, from being in charge of Air Force Transportation to Real Estate Agent to Bookkeeping to President/CEO of a fence company.

As a long-time faithful member of the Raleigh Seventh-day Adventist Church, Ruby held multiple offices over the years, including Sabbath School Teacher and Assistant Treasurer.

Ruby and Gene loved to travel the world, tend to their beautiful yard, grow amazing vegetables and gorgeous azaleas. Ruby enjoyed embracing the newest technologies, and searching for the perfect pair of extra narrow shoes. But her favorite thing was always taking care of her family. She left a blueprint on how to live a good life in the form of handwritten recipe cards, extra long hugs, and the wonderful way she treated and served everyone around her.

Ruby passed away on May 23, 2022. A memorial service will be held on Friday, July 8, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. at the Raleigh Seventh-day Adventist Church, 4204 Jackson Avenue, Memphis, TN.

She will be dearly missed and never, ever forgotten.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so will be with the Lord forever.