Mrs. Ruby Crumley Elmore Leonard, 97, of Johnson City, Tenn., passed away Sunday, May 17, 2015, at Hermitage Health Center following a brief illness.
Mrs. Leonard was a native of Washington County, Tenn., and a daughter of the late Charles W. and Effie Jane Good Crumley.
Mrs. Leonard retired from North American Rayon Corporation with 49 years of service. She was the oldest original member of Calvary Baptist Church of Elizabethton. Her interests included playing Rook and traveling.
In addition to her parents, Mrs. Leonard was preceded in death by her first husband, Jim Elmore; her second husband, Fred Leonard; four brothers, Jack, John, Jim and Buford Crumley; two sisters, Madeline Jones and Daisy McGee; two infant sisters; two sisters-in-law, Ruth Crumley and Velsie Crumley; and a niece, Doris McAmis.
Survivors include her special niece, Shirley McGee, with whom she made her home until August 2011; a sister-in-law, Aida Crumley, Elizabethton; several nieces, Carolyn McNeil and husband Jerry, Johnson City, Annette Rosenbalm and husband Chris, Watauga, and niece’s husband, Sam McAmis, Watauga; several nephews, Tom Crumley and wife Edna, Larry Crumley and wife Johnnie and Johnnie Crumley and wife Karen, all of Johnson City, Jimmy Crumley and wife Lisa, Pinson, Ala., Jo Ann Eckland, San Jose, Calif., Margie Santos, Sacramento, Calif., and Hazel Shirley, Fairfield, Calif.; and great-nieces and great-nephews, Callie Crumley, Lee Ann Crumley, Tami Crumley, Teri Crumley, Tomi Crumley Black, Mark McAmis and several other great-nieces and great-nephews. Special friends, Jake and Wesley Wolfe, also survive.
A service to honor the life of Mrs. Ruby Crumley Elmore Leonard will be conducted at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, in the Sunset Chapel of Hathaway-Percy Funeral and Cremation Services with Rev. Dean Smith officiating. Music will be under the direction of Mr. Jack Holiwski. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, prior to the funeral service, or at the residence of a niece, Shirley McGee, Central Drive, Johnson City, Tenn., at anytime. The committal and entombment service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 20, in the Mausoleum of Peace of Happy Valley Memorial Park. Active pallbearers will be Jake Wolfe, Andrew Carper, Tony Young, Kevin Townsend, George Pool and Larry Lewis. Honorary pallbearers will be nephews. Everyone will meet at the funeral home at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday to go in procession to the cemetery. The family would like to express a special thanks to Dr. Paul Brown, Dr. Vivian Clark, the staff and nurses of Governors Bend, Erwin, nurses of the 7th floor at Johnson City Medical Center, nurses at Ivy Hall Nursing Home, nurses and staff at Hermitage Health Center, friends and neighbors of the Central Community. Those who prefer memorials in lieu of flowers may make donations to Calvary Baptist Church, 225 N. Holly Lane, Elizabethton, TN 37643. Online condolences may be sent to the family and viewed by visiting our website at www.hathawaypercy.com.
Hathaway-Percy Funeral and Cremation Services is serving the Leonard family. Office (423) 543-5544.