Ruby Lee Wilhite

Our dear mother, Ruby Lee Wilhite, passed away on December 6, 2022. Ruby was born on October 29, 1929, the day of the stock market crash, to Dave and Effie Grider, in the heart of the Dust Bowl. Born in an earthen dugout they moved to Guymon, Oklahoma when she was 5. She graduated from Guymon High School and attended the Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Oklahoma for two years and then graduated from Oklahoma State University in Stillwell, Oklahoma. She returned to school after her three daughters (Donita, Rotha and Beverly) were born, to earn her teaching credential. She taught school for decades in both elementary and junior high levels in poverty stricken and middle-class districts, not fully retiring until she was 80 years old. In the last decades of her teaching career (substituting in Purcell Oklahoma), she and our father, Don Wilhite, also helped establish and run the most successful food bank in Oklahoma through the Lighthouse Worship Center of Purcell Oklahoma, where they attended church. She met Don Wilhite, her husband and the love of her life, while attending Oklahoma State University and they married on June 24, 1952. They were married for 59 years, until Don passed away on December 14, 2011. They loved music and dancing but most of all they loved the Lord. On their first date they passed by a church which was holding a Sunday night service and both agreed that they should be there instead of going to the movies and so they went in. She has been an inspiration to us and shared her life willingly with so many others. The joy she brought us will never end and one day we will be together again! Though we miss her we know she is with Jesus, her beloved husband, Don, and all those who have gone on before. We thank her for being such a Godly example of how to live life, loving and serving others. She is dearly loved and survived by her 3 daughters, Donita Jacoboni (Jon), Rotha Carlson (Russell) and Beverly Pierz (Matt), 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, brother, George Grider, sister, Gracie McClendon, and sister-in law, Betty Winkle. Please join us at Sierra Bible Church in Truckee, on Wednesday, December 14th at 11:00 A.M. for a celebration of her life. Flowers may be sent to Truckee-Tahoe Mortuary 10126 Church St. Truckee, CA 96161 or consider a donation to Samaritan’s Purse or Tahoe Forest Hospice Services.

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Ruby Lee Wilhite

October 29, 1929 - December 6, 2022