Ruby Hill (Roberts) McKinney

Ruby Hill (Roberts) McKinney, 101, passed away peacefully in her sleep in Burlington, N.C., on Feb. 6, 2020.  Funeral Services will be conducted 2:00 pm Sunday, February 16, 2020, at Citty Funeral Home Chapel with her son-in-law: Dr.Tom Collins officiating and the family will see friends immediately following the service at the funeral home.  A private family graveside service was held earlier.

Mrs. McKinney was born Aug. 17, 1918 in Caswell County, N.C., to Hilliard Woods Roberts and Rosa Catherine (Shelton) Roberts. Mrs. McKinney moved to the Williamsburg community in Rockingham County, N.C., after marrying Homer Zenith McKinney in 1938. There the couple raised two daughters, Malinda Lou and Norma Rose, and ran a tobacco farm.

After retiring from tobacco farming, Mrs. McKinney worked for many years as a certified nurse's aide at Annie Penn Hospital in Reidsville. She also worked in the cafeteria at Williamsburg Elementary School, was active in the Home Demonstration Club of Rockingham County and was a longtime member of Lowes United Methodist Church in Reidsville.

Mrs. McKinney was known and loved by many in her community, and she took great pleasure in sharing food she had prepared from vegetables she and Mr. McKinney grew in their bounteous garden. Always one to enjoy trying new recipes, in later years Mrs. McKinney even began planting vegetables not seen in many area gardens like jalapeno peppers and eggplants.

As new neighbors moved into the rural community where the McKinneys lived, Mrs. McKinney often welcomed them with treats like her homemade pecan brittle, pound cakes, sweet pickles and assorted pies. Mrs. McKinney began most mornings reading her Bible and devotionals and praying for the various members of her family.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Homer McKinney, her brother Henry Thomas Roberts, and great-grandson Dakota Bernard Solomon. She is survived by her sister Barbara Ann Neal, daughters Malinda Lou Collins (Tom) of Longmont, Colo., and Norma Rose White (Alan) of Burlington, grandsons Mark Collins (Melissa) of Denver, Colo., Kyle White (Amy) of Garner, granddaughter Kristen Solomon (Ariel) of Boulder, Colo., and great-grandchildren Gibson Farone-Collins, Tyler White, Bryson White, Sophia Solomon and Ryder Solomon.  Memorials may be made to:  Authora Care, formerly Hospice & Pallative Care Center of Alamance-Caswell,914 Chapel Hill Rd. Burlington, NC  27215. Online condolences may be made at www.cittyfh.com

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