In memory of my sister, Ruth Willbanks

Ruth and RC Willbanks

I’m just sitting here in Dellwood, Fla. thinking of my middle sister Ruth, who passed away this week.  

I’m thinking of the things we experienced when we were kids.  Ruby, my oldest sister, the quiet one, actually talked a lot when we were kids.  Once Ruth was born, Ruby didn’t have a chance to talk much and became the quiet one.  

As the brother, I played the Devil’s advocate to Ruth.  I pestered her as much as possible and competed as much as possible.  She wasn’t fond of her first name, ‘Amanda’, so of course, I called her that as often as I could.  

I remember we had a cat named Priscilla. Priscilla had the run of the house.  We slept upstairs; the girls in one room, and me in another. One morning, when Ruth was of high school age, she got up and slipped her foot in her shoe.  Priscilla at some point during the night had taken a dump in Ruth’s shoe.  WOW.  You should have been there.  It was a little brothers perfect morning.   I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but 60 years later, when I think of that morning, I still have to smile.

Ruth became involved with the MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship) and quickly gained leadership positions.  As President she entered a district speech contest and won first place.  She was awarded a large loving cup.  You know that commandment in the Ten Commandments, the was that says “Ye shall not covet”?  I coveted that loving cup and still think of it. I wonder if it is still around. 

To say that we were economically challenged  when we were young is an understatement.  We were poor.  Ruth had always dreamed of being a pastor’s wife.  If the times were as they are now, she would have dreamed of being a pastor, and she would have been a great one.  With no assets and nothing but a dream, she set out to get a college education. Not just from a state school, but a private school, namely Taylor University, a religious university.

Working in the dining service area, she graduated from Taylor University with a degree in religious education. She accepted a job in West Monroe, Louisiana.  While employed at the church in West Monroe, she met a young accountant named Robert Conley Willbanks.  You know that old saying about matches being made in heaven? This match would make a believer of you.  If there was ever a match made in heaven, this was it. You couldn’t mention Ruth without RC or RC without Ruth. Some fifty plus years later it’s still there.  Death ends a life, not a relationship.  RC still loves Ruth and always will.

Looking back, I can see how Ruth’s determination to get though school had an effect on me. She showed me it could be done. Some few years later it was me trying to get through college and then law school….. I’ll always be proud of my beautiful , intelligent, and courageous sister.  Not many brothers can say that.  She was a wonderful sister, loving wife and  devoted mother. A life well lived.