Ruby McElroy

Ruby Lee (Morrow) McElroy, 106, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, February 22, 2010, in her residence at the Bluebonnet House in College Station, Texas. Funeral Services will be held at 2 p.m., Friday, February 26, at Callaway-Jones Funeral Home in Bryan, with the Rev. John Free officiating. Interment will follow at College Station City Cemetery. There will be no visitation.

She was born January 18, 1904 in Hopkins County, Texas in the Lone Oak Community. Ruby, known as “Aunt Ruby” to all of her living relatives, touched many lives during her long life. Very soft spoken, well-educated, articulate, and politely opinionated, Ruby dedicated most of her life to promoting and supporting Texas A&M University.

Ruby was a 1925 graduate of Mary Hardin-Baylor College and worked in the office of the Secretary of State during the governorship of Ma Ferguson immediately following her graduation. In 1929 she joined the Texas A&M Information Offie, where she met and married H.B. “Mac” McElroy. Mac was the first Sports Information Director for Texas A&M. Mac and Ruby were considered to be members of the 1939 National Championship Football Team. She was presented a national championship ring when Texas A&M honored the team at its 60th anniversary celebration in 1999. They both left A&M when famed football coach Homer Norton was fired in 1947 and moved to Houston where they published the Harris County Aggies directory until their retirement in the 197s.

Along the way, Ruby became an ardent supporter of the March of Dimes and the quest to eliminate polio. She also developed a passion for stamp collecting, particularly Easter Seals and European stamps. Aunt Ruby always like to watch “the boys” as she referred to all Texas Aggie athletes, play football, basketball, and baseball. She was more than an avid fan, she was a knowledgeable student of sports.

Aunt Ruby and Mac returned to College Station for their retirement and lived in the house they bought in the 1940s on Milner Street.

The family is very thankful for the care extended to Ruby during the last couple of years of her life. Sarah Cuthall, a member of Ruby’s First Baptist Church, Bryan, Texas, took flowers to Aunt Ruby on a weekly basis and spent countless hours reading to her over the last few years. Southern Care and Southern Care Hospice were both helpful and wonderful to Aunt Ruby. Ruby was the first resident of Bluebonnet House in 1996. The Bluebonnet staff treated Aunt Ruby as a “special” lady and a special resident.

Aunt Ruby was preceded in death by her husband, Mac, and her six siblings. Through the lineage of her sister, Clara Jones, she is survived by her niece and primary guardian, Millie Jones of College Station, great nephews William T. Jones, Sr., J.R. (Bob) Jones and his wife, Georgia, B.J. Jones and his wife Diane, and Larry R. Jones, all of Houston; great nieces, Nancy Bollman and her husband Alan, of Dallas, and Barbie Jones, of Houston; great-great nieces, Cori Stevenson, Natalie Mandery and Marie Jones, all of Houston; and great-great-great nieces, Brooke Nicole Mandery, Paige Catherine Mandery, and Taylor Marie Jones, all of Houston.

Honorary Pallbearers will be her great-great nephews, William T. Jones Jr., Theodore R. Jones, Layne R. Jones, David L. Mandery, James C. Jones, Eric R. Bollman, Richard Jones, Jeffrey Feinberg, and great-great-great nephew Andre Fuller Jones.

Condolences

  1. Aunt Ruby was a fabulous Lady. When I first met her & Mac, she always sat quietly while Mas retold stories of Texas A&M. Following his death I found out that she was a dynamic & smart woman. I always enjoyed the hours Bill and I spent together with her recounting her life – how she & Mac met; what College Station was like when she first arrived, Her college years, too many stories to mention. Aunt Ruby & I always shared a mince meat pie during celebrations at the “Jones’s”. You led a great Life Aunt Ruby.. I miss you.

  2. Aunt Ruby was a wonderful, strong woman who led an amazing life. She had so many great memories to share, and a vibrant personality that made those memories come alive to all she told them to. I know from each time I saw her at each Thanksgiving get together, how proud she was of her family and how much she loved all of them. She would get a kick out of all of the new additions each year, and was so thankful that she had a chance to meet each of them.
    I will miss you Aunt Ruby.

  3. Ms. Ruby: What a delight you were. We enjoyed so many meals together at Bluebonnet when I would come visit my mom. You always showed so much concern for her and I appreciated that. You were so genuine. You will be missed by many…Aggie Love,
    Lou Campbell
    (daughter of Olivia Vidaurri/ former Bluebonnet resident)

  4. I know that my mother, Lula Oates, who passed in November 2007, was waiting to welcome Ruby into God’s heaven. The circle of friendship dating back to the late 1930’s is active once again somewhere on high.

    As long as there are those on earth who carry the memories of Ruby, Mac, my parents and other Aggies of that generation, then they live on with us – in our hearts.

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