Ruby Mae (Grist) Inman (1916 - 2011)

Born 30 Jan 1916 in Yell County, Arkansas, USA

Ancestors

Wife of Lemuel Floyd Inman — married 12 Oct 1933 in Riley, Yell Co., Arkansas

Died 13 Jun 2011 at age 95 in Danville, Yell County, Arkansas, USA

Biography

• Ruby Mae Grist was the daughter of Isaac Newton Grist and Frances Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Jones. They are laid to rest in the Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery in Twin Falls, Idaho. Her paternal grandparents were William Ivey Grist and Frances Elizabeth Jane Davis, who are laid to rest in Moore's Chapel Cemetery in Yell County, Arkansas. Her maternal grandparents were Jeremiah Davis and Nancy Jane Smith, also laid to rest in Moore's Chapel Cemetery.

Ruby was born January 30, 1916 in Riley Township, Yell County, Arkansas. Her siblings were Ruth Frances, Eupha F., Frank E. and James I. Grist.

Ruby grew up about six miles from Havana. Her father had truck gardens, raised cattle, and also operated a mill for making sorghum molasses. During the cotton harvest season, everyone joined in to help their neighbors. Ruby said when it came to picking cotton, her father was the best cotton picker in the area and she came in a close second. In a race one day, Ruby picked 375 pounds of cotton and beat all the men who were there.

Ruby met Lemuel Floyd Inman at the social get-togethers that were held at the local school which was also used for church services. Ruby was seventeen years old and Lemuel was twenty-three when they married. They moved to Danville, Arkansas where Lemuel worked at a variety of trades. Lemuel even watched the barber in town cutting hair and became so adept that he set up a barber shop in their home. He also had a blacksmith shop and Ruby said Lemuel could fix just about anything.

Their son Bobby 'Bob' Floyd Inman was born July 7, 1934 in Danville, Yell County, Arkansas.

In approximately 1950, Lemuel, Ruby and Bob moved to Twin Falls, Idaho close to the Snake River in Southern Idaho and lived there about twenty years before returning to Arkansas in December 1970. Lemuel began building houses in Twin Falls and, after his folks returned to Arkansas, their son Bob and his wife Alice stayed in Twin Falls and carried on the tradition until retiring to Havana, Arkansas in 2008.

While in Twin Falls, Lemuel and Ruby always had a big vegetable garden on about eleven acres. They would sell what they couldn't eat or Ruby didn't preserve by canning. One year, they planted twenty one-pound sacks of potatoes. A furniture store in town was awarding a prize for the largest potato. Ruby took in a red potato that weighed two-and-a-half pounds and, of course, won the contest.

After returning to Arkansas, Lemuel and Ruby farmed an acreage in the community of Riley in Yell County. They always loved to have company come to their home so they could eat together, laugh and swap stories. After retirement in 1981, Lemuel and Ruby built their home in Havana when the train was still running through town. Ruby said they removed the tracks about two to three years later.

In Havana, Ruby was known all around for her cooking and baking, and especially her love for canning. People for miles around would bring their extra produce and Ruby always had a pot boiling on the stove with baskets of fruits and vegetables waiting to be processed. She did a great deal of canning and generously gave most of it away. In the wintertime, Ruby worked on her quilt projects or went to Twin Falls, where she visited with Bob and Alice, along with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Ruby passed away in the early evening of June 13, 2011 at Mitchell's Care Center in Danville. She was laid to rest next to Lemuel in the Rest Haven Cemetery at Russellville, Pope County, Arkansas.

Sources

• *https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71351062/ruby-mae-inman