RUBY ROBERTS (LEGGETT)
It is with great sorrow that the family announces the passing of our dear mother, grandmother and great grandmother on Aug. 29, 2003 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimers disease. She was 87 years of age.
At the time of her passing she was a resident of Brock Fahrni extended care veterans hospital in Vancouver.
Ruby was born in and took all of her formal schooling in Vancouver and then moved to the Clearwater area as a teenager in 1930 with her parents, Harry and Lily Nott, where she remained until she married Donald MacKenzie in 1935.
In 1941, she returned to Vancouver and joined the Canadian Womens Army Corps, where she received training and then worked as a light vehicle mechanic.
She was honourably discharged after an accident that caused partial deafness.
Ruby was blessed with a beautiful singing and yodeling voice. She moved to Oregon in 1946 to join a country and western band. In 1954 she moved back to the Squamish/Vancouver area where she worked for a number of years in the retail sales business. In 1960 she obtained a position as a schoolyard supervisor, a job she dearly loved as it was an opportunity to combine her love of children with her love of sports. The children nicknamed her "Sarge" for the regimented manner in which she took care of them. This was to be her final job, and she worked at it until mandatory retirement in 1980.
She could always be found tending her beloved flowers and baking goodies for the neighborhood children. She was also very fond of dancing and attended country and western dances as often as possible.
In 2000, Ruby's health began to deteriorate and she moved to the extended care facility where she was accompanied by her dear friend and partner, Bill Pierce until her passing.
Ruby was a 39 year Royal Canadian Legion member and held a number of executive positions over the years. She also represented the Legion at the Timmy's Telethon, where she would present the cheque and donation for her branch.
Ruby is survived by her dear friend and partner Bill Pierce of Vancouver; her son John Allan MacKenzie of Duncan, B.C., her son Ray (Laura) MacKenzie, Clearwater, B.C. and her daughter Judith Ann Wright of Vancouver; brother Stan Leggett of Kamloops; nine grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
Anyone wishing to remember Ruby by way of a donation may do so by sending it to: Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 259, Clearwater, B.C.. V0E 1N0