Ruby L. Edwards
Ruby Edwards Bozeman, age 94 of Malvern, died Tuesday, December 10, 2019, asleep until Jesus comes. She was born in Malvern on July 10, 1925, the daughter of the late Lewie Newt and Verna Ellen Shockey. Ruby was a 10th generation descendant of Degory Priest and Isaac Allerton and his family, six passengers of the 1620 Mayflower voyage, Pilgrims fleeing England in search of religious freedom in America.
Ruby’s religious faith was Seventh-day Adventist. Her grandparents accepted the Adventist faith in 1873 while homesteading on the prairies of Lincoln, Nebraska. They moved to Malvern in 1886 and established the local Malvern Seventh-day Adventist Church. Ruby continued to follow in their Christian outreach, witnessing and serving her fellow man.
She was a graduate of Glen Rose School and attended Russellville Tech and Henderson State University. She was an elementary school teacher. Most of her career was in the Adventist parochial school system. She taught in Arkansas, New Mexico, and Missouri. She did volunteer work, delivered Meals on Wheels, and helped those in need. Ruby was a lover of nature and travel. She enjoyed knitting, gardening, and camping. She was involved in prison ministries with her second husband, C. L. “Jack” Bozeman, in Forrest City two days a month.
Ruby was also preceded in death by siblings Twila, Floy, Claude, Johnny, and Jack Shockey; her husband of 50 years, Roy H. Edwards and their infant son, Doyle Roy; and second husband, C. L. Bozeman.
Left to cherish her memory are her two children, Twila Walker (Henry) of Malvern, and Ralph Edwards (Donna) of White Hall; three grandsons, Clay Walker, Andy Edwards and Chris Stephens; two great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews, and sister-in-law and lifelong friend, Ophelia Otts Edwards of Sullivan, Missouri.
In 2009, Ruby went to live in the Alzheimer’s Unit at Arbor Oaks. The family wishes to thank the staff in the Lighthouse Unit for their love, compassion, and care of Ruby.
Visitation will be held in the chapel of J. A. Funk Funeral Home on Sunday afternoon, December 15, 2019 from two until three o’clock, followed immediately by the funeral service. Pastor Ron Ray will officiate.
Online condolences may be sent via jafunkfuneralhome.com.
Published in Malvern Daily Record from Dec. 13 to Dec. 14, 2019.
