Ruby Gene Wheat

Ruby is my Mom, and the other halves of my heart and soul. She was born in South Bend, Indiana on February 19th, 1949 to Thurman and Ruby (Basham) Collins. She lived her early life in Indiana and Kentucky. She married Jack Raymond Wheat on March 27th, 1965. They were married until Jack’s death in April of 2008. Ruby and Jack had two sons, Jack Raymond Wheat Jr., and Robert. Jack Jr. was taken in an automobile accident in March of 1995. Her parents and siblings passed away long before her, as well. Ruby has two granddaughters from Jack Jr., Amanda, and Brandy.

Ruby and the family moved to Belton, TX in 1982. She had many jobs. One of her favorites was owning her own hair salon, Free Spirit Hair and Beauty. We were all so proud when Ruby got her beautician’s license and then opened the shop. I did not know of many friends that Ruby had outside of the family with the exceptions of Janice and Jenny. They lost touch over the years, but Ruby even talked of Jenny in her final months. Ruby met Jenny in the ER at Scott and White Hospital where they worked together for quite some time. Ruby did have many babies that had four feet through the years including two dogs (both named Baby), a cat named Nipper Kitty, a cat named Maddie Kitty, and currently a cat that she rescued that we call Baby as well. Ruby’s heart was always with the animals, and I love her so much for it. She took care of the neighborhood strays, many racoon families over the years, and the occasional opossum. Her eyes would light up when talking about or watching animals on tv, outdoors, or in the house. Outside of animals, Ruby’s only other hobby was playing bingo until she could no longer. Many of her old bingo friends will probably read this from Wild Card Bingo in Belton and recognize her. She used to always talk about a floor worker named Tom and his antics.

Ruby struggled with many health problems, including dementia. She never forgot who anyone was but could not remember new things well at all. Ruby spent two months in the hospital battling health issues. In the end, she and I decided to bring her home and she spent her final days there. Ruby passed away in the morning on January 6th, 2024. Dossman Funeral Home is overseeing arrangements.

Ruby was amazing. She was an amazing person, and an amazing mother. I will miss our conversations and our laughs together. Ruby had an ability to persevere through adversity that was second to none, and she had more than her share of adversity in life right up until the end. She had always believed that God will take care of us. She had always wanted to be baptized and was while in the hospital during her illness. I am so very proud to say that Ruby is my mom, and I miss her dearly and I always will. God, please keep my mom close to you. Momma, I love you so much, and I pray that our souls meet again someday. Until then, I will carry you in my heart until its last beat. I love you so very, very much my darling…always my Love, always.