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Submitted: 1/17/24 • Approved: 1/17/24 • Last Updated: 1/20/24 • R1514296-G1514295-S3
Dow
May 22, 1909 - August 31, 1985
Son of Charles Robert and Cordelia Paralee Holderby White
Pharis
April 6, 1913 - August 25, 2011
Our beloved mother and grandmother went to be with her Lord on August 26, 2011. Ruth loved and served her Lord through-out most of her life, 57 of those years were in Grand Avenue Baptist Church where she was a faithful member, loving her pastors and fellow members but especially her Sunday School Class. Ruth was a retired cook for Darby Jr. High where she fed and loved scores of teenagers. She delighted in entertaining friends and relatives but most of all her family; she cooked huge meals almost every weekend and insisted that all her family attend. Ruth's spiritual gift was ministry and was often called upon by family and friends to utilize that gift. She had a great gift of joy and when you were around her she lifted your spirits and made your enjoy life with her. Ruth was born April 6, 1913 in the Oak Grove Community near Cecil, Arkansas, where she grew to maturity except for several years when the family moved to Mulberry, AR. It was there in the Oak Grove Community where she met and fell in love and was courted by a young man named Dow White who lived close by in a neighboring community. Ruth was only seventeen and would not be eighteen until the following April when they married February 28, 1931 by a Justice of the Peace.
Ruth was greeted upon her arrival in heaven by her mother and father, Robert (Bob) Wesley Shelby and Rose Elizabeth (Lizzie) (Pruitt) Shelby and all ten brothers and sisters, Bradley, Millard, Demus, Clarence, Robert, Hunter, Woodrow Shelby and three sisters, Ruby (O.B) Hargrove, Mattie (A.G.) Hargrove and Lacy (Lonnie) Pack. Most precious of all she was reunited with her son Jerry Dow White and her husband of 58 years Dow White.
She leaves behind three daughters: Wilma (Cliff) Jameson of Van Buren, Pat (Leland) Martin of Greenwood, Trena (Carroll) King of Fort Smith; a daughter-in-law Joyce White of Fort Smith; nine grandchildren; Steven (Debbie) Martin of Georgia, Randy ( Susie) Martin of Mansfield, Pam (Steve) Brown of Greenwood, Rob (Della) Jameson, Lynn (Roger) Graham of Van Buren, Nick White of Van Buren, Allen White of Fort Smith, Michelle (Randy) Bricker of Little Rock, Brett (Thurronda) King of Fort Smith; 25 great grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, ten great-great grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews.
Funeral service will be at 2:30 p.m. Monday, August 29, 2011 at Lewis Funeral Chapel in Fort Smith, AR. with interment at Roselawn Cemetery in Fort Smith, AR. Family will friends from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on August 28, 2011 at Lewis Funeral Chapel in Fort Smith, AR.
Pallbearers will be Steven Martin, Randy Martin, Steve Brown, Nick White, Allen White, Rob Jameson, Roger Graham, Brett King and Randy Bricker.
Arrangements are under the direction of Lewis Funeral Chapel in Fort Smith, AR.
Photo courtesy of Frances Allen Titsworth
Contributed on 1/17/24 by Billsully060
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Record #: 1514296