Obituary of Ruby Perkins

B I O G R A P H Y PERKINS: Ruby Alice Perkins passed away in the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Centre, Lloydminster, Alberta on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at the age of 84 years. The funeral service for Ruby was conducted from the Wild Rose Pavilion, Lloydminster, Saskatchewan on Monday, January 30, 2006 at 1:00 P.M. with Wayne Skinner and Frank Perkins officiating. A eulogy was given by Glenys Oliver. Hymns sung were “The Old Rugged Cross,” “Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” and “There’s An Old, Old Path,” accompanied on the organ by Carol Skinner. Honorary pallbearers were all her friends and neighbors. Active pallbearers were: Michael Perkins, Corinne McGirr, Jeannette Laundrie, Cody Perkins, Adam Perkins and Shawn Gurney. Interment followed in the Nunebor Cemetery. McCaw Funeral Service Ltd., of Lloydminster administered the funeral arrangements. Ruby Alice Perkins was born on August 1, 1921 to Lydia and Harvey Weaver, along with twin brother, Robert, in Swift Current, Sask. During her early years, Ruby and family moved from Swift Current to B.C. After exploring there for a few years, they moved again, this time to the Nunebor district, to the present farm, when she was six years old. Ruby went to Eagle Butte School until Grade 9, usually walking or skiing all the way. She then took grade 10 and 11, followed by a business course in North Battleford. When she completed her schooling, she worked for Charlie McKay in McLaughlin, where she learned the switchboard. In 1942, Ruby moved to Edmonton, and started doing housework. After a short period, she began working for the Royal Canadian Air Force. Ruby was assigned to the #3 Manning Depot, where she recorded intake information on the new recruits for the R.C.A.F. This was certainly an interesting and exciting job for a single young lady, and the perfect opportunity to find a Prince Charming! One young RCAF recruit in particular caught her eye and she was willing to accept an invitation from Robert Perkins to go to an afternoon concert of the ban “the Hurricane Hits.” Ruby has since disclosed her secret strategy to her daughters, that being that she would always research the records of any young recruit that asked her out - just to make sure! Obviously, Robert passed the test! The couple dated until Bob went overseas in December of 1943. They spent the war years corresponding, and because Ruby didn’t need to find her Prince Charming how, she began to work at the Edmonton General Hospital. During their correspondence, Bob proposed marriage to her, before he even came home. Ruby, the rational and intelligent woman that she was, refused to answer until he got home. They were married on July 6, 1946, in Edmonton. They moved to Chauvin for one year and started a family with the birth of their first son, Alfred. The small family moved to Ruby’s parent’s farm in October 1947. They quickly settled into farm life and their small family grew to include Luellen, Stewart, David and Kathy. Ruby was a very efficient woman, who gardened, cooked, cleaned, and put up preserves. She knew how to stretch a dollar as far as possible and was an excellent seamstress, many old clothes over for her family. Ruby loved all kinds of needlework, including knitting mitts for all the kids for the winter. She crocheted doilies, knitted and embroidered, and, in doing so, passed her extensive skills on to her daughters. When the Nunebor Ladies Club began, she became an active participant and held various offices over the years. When the children became involved in 4-H, so did she. She actively supported them, helping at achievement days and throughout the year. Ruby also taught Sunday school and played the piano at church. She worked part-time at the Chamber of Commerce once the kids had moved off the farm. Ruby loved working with people and greatly enjoyed her work there. A special pleasure of Ruby’s was driving to the mountains. She always took lots of pictures, collected post cards and souvenir pens, and made scrapbooks of all her trips. Ruby, being trained as a bookkeeper through her business course, did all the farm administration and bookkeeping work. There are many fond memories the Perkin’s family holds for Ruby - their wife, mother, and grandmother. Luellen remembers many special things about her Mom, the first being that every job had to be done right, no matter what. At harvest time, it was the kid’s job to husk the corn, end beans, shell peas, and pick seeds out of the citrons - until the job was done. After Luellen left home, she treasured Ruby’s letters from home, as they always contained a funny joke or a clipping from the newspaper. Ruby attempted to instill good manners in their children, but Stewart would always put his elbows on the table at dinner, until he learned that he might just get a whack for his bad manners! David looked forward to every spring when they always went for a drive seeking and picking lilacs, and, the first crocus of the spring always went to Mom. Mom loved her flower gardens, but the majority of the time she left the flowers in the garden, where nature intended them to be. She enjoyed watching the deer as they wandered through the yard. The yard had many fruitful crabapple trees, which would produce an amazing amount of fruit each year. Mom would painstakingly peel, cut, can and preserve for days, all the while waiting to celebrate when the foxes arrived to steal the apples from under Dad’s nose. When grandchildren arrived in the family, Ruby was a kind soul, sympathetic ear, and a generous grandmother (especially with the cookies). The grandchildren knew exactly where the pail of cookies was, and they never got caught taking cookies as they needed them. Grandma was always there to help them through their illnesses, as Brianne discovered when she ate far too many cherries one day and became quite ill. Grandma was also very good at letting them discover and try new things. One day, Corinne and Michael were instructed to trim the hedge with the power trimmers. Thinking they were doing an amazing job, they did not even notice slicing through a hornet’s nest until the first sting. Grandma did not even flinch as she went out to the hedge, picked up all the tools they had dropped in their panic, and came back in the house where they were hiding, to nurse their stings. Grandma also allowed the grandkids to sneak a baby kitten into the house every once in a while, but certainly put her foot down when they tried to bring in mice, or frogs, or garter snakes. There was a limit to her tolerance! She was also fairly tolerant of games inside the house involving the very exciting “Dumb Waiter.” These games often involved squishing the smallest grandchild into the box and sending him or her up from the basement. Ruby enjoyed her 11 grandchildren, and the 4 great granddaughters in the family. Ruby enjoyed living on the farm and reluctantly moved into the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Facility in October 1998, where she resided until her passing. She was predeceased by a son, Alfred, in 1988. Ruby leaves a sister, Ermil, residing in Riley, AB. Ruby also leaves a legacy in her children - Luellen and family of Burnaby, BC; Kathy and Vaughan Mork of Glechein, AB; and one the farm Stewart, David and his special friend Marty, and Ruby’s husband of nearly 60 years, Bob. Card of Thanks The Perkins family would like to thank Dr. Crossley and staff at the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Facility and all the friends and neighbors for the kind wishes and thoughts. A special thanks to Johnny Dow and helpers for their work at the cemetery, also Glenys Oliver for reading the eulogy and all the goodies and to Margaret Preet for her cake. In lieu of flowers, donations are to be made to the Dr. Cooke Extended Care Facility, Canadian Cancer Society or the ALS Society.