Ruby Huff of Pompano Beach, FL, formerly of Cumberland, KY, departed this life after 101 years on Friday, July 28, 2017. She fulfilled her professional life as a dedicated teacher and principal. Ruby was the eighth of ten children born to Arie and Hiram Jones in Wallins Creek, KY in 1916 and is preceded in death by her daughter Brenda Shannon; husband, Talmage Huff; siblings Earl, Ida Bell, Minnie, Smith, Roxie, Hamp, Grace, and John; and parents Aretha “Arie” (Wilson) and Hiram Jones.
Ruby was an enduring example of strength, grace, kindness, and generosity. She spoke often and lovingly of her large, close-knit family, and lived the ideals and values she learned during her childhood in Wallins. Education, however, was a priority for her coal mining father, so Ruby left home to attend boarding school in Mount Vernon, KY. She then became the seventh of her siblings to attend college and received her 2-year teaching degree from Asheville Normal and Teachers College in North Carolina. Ruby earned her Bachelor’s degree from Union College.
Ruby’s teaching career began at Cumberland Elementary, where she met and eventually married the love of her life, Talmage. They worked and lived together in Cumberland and spent their summers supporting the war effort and belonged to the country club in Lynch.
Ruby moved with her family to Pompano Beach, FL, in 1959, where Talmage died 2 years later. In a new city with two children to raise on her own, Ruby went back to school at FAU to complete her master’s degree and became principal of the newly opened Dwight David Eisenhower Elementary School in Davie. As a principal, she took school children on tours of Europe and inspired a love of travel in her grandchildren with regular postcards and mementos. In retirement, Ruby was a doting grandmother and world traveler. She traversed the United States visiting family and going on tours with her friends, traveled to China, Hawaii, Spain, dozens of countries in between, and in 1987 she was able to accompany the Matlock family to the USSR and stayed in Spasso House.
Ruby is survived by her son, Dave Huff; grandchildren Amy (Spector), Susan (Maxik), Tiffany Huff, and Ben (Alice) Huff; great-grandchildren Ian and Dylan Maxik, Emily, Zachary and Sam Spector; and brother Hiram.