Ruby Stout Brown

Ruby Stout Brown, 81, of West Point, Virginia, passed away peacefully on February 21, 2021. She leaves behind a doting brother, Lawrence Stout and his wife Libby, a sister, Anne Bowen, her adoring daughter, Lynn Vogel and Lynn’s servant-hearted husband Ken, the son-in-law she “kept”, Richard Cline and his wife Ann, bonus son Greg Brown and his sweet wife Gale, her bonus son, Jeff Brown, and her nephew and his son, Arthur and Morgan Carter. She adored her grandchildren Noel Cline, Taylor Bloom and her husband Brent, Austin Vogel, Matt Brown and his wife Kate, and Lindsay Brown. She was also blessed with great-grandchildren Avery and Mason Brown and Ariel Bloom. Her parents, her husband Herman, her sister Dorothy Carter, and her firstborn son, Ricky, preceded her in death. She was fondly referred to as "sister" and loved her family more than anything. It was often said she had the best southern hospitality and manners unless you crossed "her girls" or anyone else in her family. And to Ruby, almost everyone was family--she was known as a bonus mom to Lynn’s friends and “Grandma Ruby” by many friends of her grandchildren. Ruby was born and raised in West Point. After graduating from high school (where she was unable to start the first women's basketball team), she moved to Richmond. She worked for the phone company along with her sister Anne, and lived in a boarding house until she was married at 21. After marrying her first husband who was serving in the Army, she moved to Germany with him. While in Germany she endured many things, but one of the hardest was the birth and death of her first child Ricky. Three months before she left Germany she found out she was pregnant again with her daughter Lynn who was born in Fort Benning. At the age of 40, when her first marriage ended, she went to work in the payroll department at Chesapeake Corporation. To this day if you ever complained about the smell from the West Point mill she would say "you can't complain, it smells like bread & butter to me". She was determined to support and provide for her daughter after almost 20 years of being out of the workforce. When she was 59, she married the true love of her life, Herman Brown who encouraged her to retire and live life with him. This enabled her to thrive in her true passion and vocation - being a wife, mother, and grandmother. She loved to travel - outside of living in Germany, she enjoyed traveling with her sisters to Hawaii, Disney World, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and even conquered her fear of the water and took an Alaskan cruise. She also enjoyed traveling with, to, and/or for events in support of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. If there was a road trip she was all-in and often would provide the vehicle. She loved being "the taxi" and would do anything for extra time with her family. Outside of always being available and there for her family, she most notably was a creature of habit. If you were interested in getting in touch with her, you had to look no further than her weekly calendar - Wednesdays were pizza at Anna’s with her lifelong friends, Fridays involved fried chicken at Hardee’s often with Dorothy. She also had her standing hair appointment at Scissor Sounds with Tammy and Saturday evening dinner with Linda (and sometimes Don) Hogge. Sundays involved church in the morning with Lynn and Ken at LifePointe Christian Church and dinner with Jeff. She had bi-weekly appointments at Simply Nails and periodic outings with her friends Yvonne and Linda. If it was the last full weekend of September, she would be traveling for her annual outing to the Amish country in Pennsylvania with her sister and daughter where she made new long-lasting friends and many secrets were shared. She was easy to love and so much fun to be around. When teased, she would always say “You’re going to miss me one day.” She couldn’t be more right. Those who knew her loved her, and will miss her terribly. Never one for a desire for any attention, the family will have a private graveside service. In lieu of flowers, Ruby had asked that donations be made to the Wounded Warrier Project on her behalf, http://woundedwarriorproject.org/ . The family would like to thank Amedisys Hospice and the amazing care she received from Christi, Lori, and Rhonda. Special thanks also to her neighbor, Terry, who watched after her on F Street for many years.

Ruby Stout Brown

July 31, 1939 - February 21, 2021