Ruby Lee (Grindstaff) Gouge

Heaven rejoiced when Ruby Lee Grindstaff Gouge, age 76, went Home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, September 26, 2023. Her smiling face, kindness, and wisdom will be missed by each member of her family, but we are comforted by the knowledge and assurance that we will see her again.

Ruby was born on January 18, 1947, and was a lifelong resident of Yancey County and the Halls Chapel Community. She married the love of her life, Robert Gouge, on March 26, 1965, and they were married for 57 years. She was an employee of American Thread Company, later Coats American, where she retired in 2001.

She was a loving and devoted wife, mother, and grandmother.  She loved her husband and family beyond measure and could most often be found caring for them in both big and small ways. She also enjoyed baking and canning. Ruby and Robert loved traveling, especially their road trips and local “adventures”, often going on a whim, stopping along the way to enjoy wherever they found themselves.

Her greatest love was God, and she loved praising him through her talent as a pianist.  She played piano from the time she was a child, accompanying a group in her teens that traveled to many churches in the area to sing. She was a lifelong member of Halls Chapel Baptist Church and was the pianist there for most of her life.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Carl and Lena Grindstaff, as well as an infant sister, and her husband, Robert Gouge in 2022.

Left to cherish her memories are her son, Robert D. Gouge and his wife Lori; daughter, Carlyn Pelton and her husband Michael; one granddaughter, Abigail Gouge; and three grandsons: Zebulon Gouge and fiancée Kallie, Benjamin Pelton, and Nicholas Pelton, all of which were the apple of her eye; as well as many dear friends including Marsha Wilhelm who so lovingly cared for Ruby and her husband in their final years.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday, September 29th, 2023, in the Chapel of Holcombe Brothers Funeral Home at 7 p.m. The family will receive friends and loved ones two hours prior to service time. The Reverend Scott McIntosh will officiate. Interment will be held in the Grindstaff Family Cemetery in Burnsville with a graveside service on Saturday, September 30th at 11:00.

Flowers are appreciated, but memorial donations can be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital at stjude.org/donate, Smile Train at donate.smiletrain.org, or The Gideons International at gideons.org/donate – all of which are organizations that she supported.

Holcombe Brothers Funeral Home is respectfully serving the Gouge family.

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