When asked to commemorate my dear and best friend, Ruth (Elaine) Hobbs Summerville, I struggled in my search for words that would be significant and worthy enough to denote her truly memorable life.  A good and true friend is hard to find and Ruth was certainly that

friend – one who added a dimension of unheralded happiness not only to my life, but also to the many other family and friends who were close to her.  She truly was a good-natured, loving, and trustworthy person who always stood by me and never judged - regardless.  She was the joy and the spirit of my being, the one person who helped make my life’s journey through high school a whole lot happier.  Together we shared many tears of joy and even a few of sorrow.  She was, indeed, the friend who I could do anything with or nothing at all and still have the best time ever!  And though her life was cut short, I am so thankful that God chose to bless me by putting Ruth in my life - the joy and reward of just knowing this remarkable person and having had this wonderful friendship with her remains with me even today.  Submitted by Becky Branch Usry

 

It is really hard remembering but difficult to forget Ruth Hobbs. She was always "Baby Sister" to Kay and me. Her older brother Victor called her that, and it stuck. The whole neighborhood called her that.
She was always a free spirit, and full of fun and jokes. She taught me the alternate version of that old Baptist standard "Bringing in the Sheaves"...it went:
                Bringing in the sheets
                Bringing in the sheets
                We shall come rejoicing
                Bringing in the sheets
Then there was the old hymn "Love Lifted Me", to which she always added "Put me down!"
She was the first to point out that there were 46 light bulbs in the dome of the First Baptist Church. I spent many Sundays after that, trying to prove her wrong. We played swinging statues and tag until way after dark in our front yard. She could out run and out jump just about everyone in the neighborhood. She always could think of something fun to play or do. We always hated to see her go home at night, because it seemed like the fun stopped.
The first time I got to drive our car by myself, she went with me and fussed at me when I didn't turn the blinker on at the right time.
I often think of her and have to smile. Some of the fun stopped when she left, but the memories are there. Submitted by John Crenshaw