Ruby Hamblin

Ruby D. Robbins Hamblin went to be with her Lord on October 26, 2023. Her life was one of love and devotion. She was faithfully married to her husband, James W. Hamblin, for 69 years and was the mother of three children, the late Tammy Wise (Barry) of Ecru, Mississippi, Linda Halbert-Rhea (Lauren) of West Point, Mississippi, and Timothy Hamblin (Ashlea) of Leeds, Alabama. She was the grandmother of 6 grandchildren, Ian Baker Halbert, Ethan Molloy Halbert, Caleigh Ann Coleman, Josiah Seth Hamblin, Caleb Jameson Hamblin, and Lily Jayne Hamblin.

Ruby was born on September 4, 1931 in Alabama to Robert Presley Robbins and Nettie Bell Bishop Robbins. She was the youngest and last surviving child of three children who survived until adulthood (Earline Holley of Fitzgerald, Georgia and Early Robbins of Booneville, Mississippi), though she had two younger siblings that died in infancy. The daughter of a sharecropper, Ruby moved frequently which eventually led her to Baldwyn, Mississippi where she met her husband.

She married James W. Hamblin in the parsonage of Baldwyn’s First Methodist Church on August 19, 1950 and soon moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin as her husband found work for Nash Motors (which became American Motors) and lived with him there until his retirement in 1985.

After his retirement, she returned to the farm where her husband was raised. She and her family were members at Fellowship Baptist Church in Kenosha, Wisconsin and joined Jericho Baptist Church in Baldwyn after her return to Mississippi. She was a pet lover and especially fond of her pet cats, especially Andy, and her dog Betsy.

Burial will be at the Lebanon Methodist Cemetery where her husband was laid to rest January 12, 2020. A graveside service will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Sunday October 28, 2023, officiated by her daughter Linda Halbert-Rhea.