Ruby Parker Bishop

Ruby Parker Bishop passed away at the home of her son in Columbia, TN on Sunday, October 11th, 2015. The funeral service will be held at 2 PM Wednesday, October 14 at the McDonald Funeral Home in Centerville, TN with burial in Memory Gardens in Hickman County. Visitation will be Tuesday, October 13th from 5:00-8:00 PM at Graymere Church of Christ in Columbia. A native of Lyles, Tennessee, she was born February 26, 1913 on Jones’s Creek in Hickman County. She was 102 years old. She was the daughter of the late Lochia Wilson and Rebecca Jane (Overby) Parker of Lyles. She was taught to quilt at eight years old by her Grandmother, who lived with her family. It was a tradition in her family that when each girl married she would have made 6 quilts and each boy would have 3 quilts before leaving home. She started at an early age making her quilts for herself and for her 3 sisters and 3 brothers. Ruby married Fred William Bishop, son of A.C. and Ida Lyell Bishop on October 12, 1934 in Centerville. They met when Fred was working as a rural mail carrier delivering her mail. She would meet him at the mail box each day to pick up her mail. He preceded her in death in 1976. She was a long time member of the Lyles Church of Christ, teaching Bible Classes for many years. As many families in the South, in 1943 during the war, the family moved to Detroit to work in the Automobile Plants that were converted into making army and military equipment. Fred worked in the Cadillac plant making army tanks. In 1945, after the war the family returned to Tennessee to live and work. Ruby and her husband owned and operated a grocery store in Lyles that carried building materials, groceries, and farm animal feed. Workers from the train would stop daily to have lunch at their store, for a bologna sandwich she charged 10 cents each, with cheese 15 cents. The Tennessee Products Plant in Wrigley was flourishing at that time. The plant workers were paid with $2.00 bills and a lot of bills came to the grocery store. Ruby began saving the $2.00 bills and soon had enough to pay for the family’s new car, a 1949 Chevrolet. During the time Ruby worked in the grocery store, she also helped Fred begin building a home for the family. They bought underdeveloped property on Hwy 100 and began clearing the land for their home, a barn, a lake, garden spot and the farm fenced for cattle. Ruby tackled any job building the house, from putting on the roof, to carpenter work and the fencing. The house was built only when they had the money to buy building materials and when it was finished in 1953 it was paid for, after three years of building. She is survived by one son: Ron Bishop and his wife, Barbara of Columbia. Grandchildren are Bobby (Susan) Bishop, Becky Bishop Osborne, and Billy (Brenda) Bishop, all of Columbia. Great-grandchildren are: Amy (Daniel) Neff of Nashville, Josh (Kara) Bishop, William and Rachel Osborne, Brittany Bishop, Anna Bishop, Brooke Bishop, all of Columbia, and two-great-great-grandchildren, Cali Bishop and Tucker Neff. She is survived by one sister, Gerlene (Morris) McCord of Detroit, MI. She is preceded in death by her brothers, Ferrell (Jennie) Parker, Harden (Louise) Parker, Andrew Jackson (Jennie) Parker, and sisters, Hallie (Steve) Greer, and Earlene (Kinzer) Richards. Several nieces and nephews also survive. Pall bearers are Bobby Bishop, Josh Bishop, William Osborne, Billy Bishop, Daniel Neff, and Don Presley. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Maury Regional Medical Center Foundation or to Columbia Academy.

Ruby Parker Bishop

February 26, 1913 - October 11, 2015