Ruby Mae White

Ruby Mae White, age 77, wife of the late Charlie White, passed away Saturday, February 8, 2020 in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.  Ruby Mae was born in 1942 to the late Willie and Keithsee Murrell of Chicot County, in Eudora, Arkansas.

 Ruby Mae’s parents were farmers and when she came of age, she joined the family in working the field part of the year and she attended school the other half of the year.  Despite the annual interruption of her studies to work during a portion of the school years, she graduated from Eudora East High School one year ahead of her class.  Ruby Mae went on to work in a local restaurant until she relocated to Chicago, Illinois at the age of 18.

Sometime after arriving in Chicago, Ruby Mae made her way to The Old Original Missionary Baptist Church 3007 West Harrison Street, where the late Reverend Willie Redic was the pastor.

Ruby Mae left church for a period of time, during which she met and married the late Charlie White, who was also a native of Arkansas and a migrant to Chicago.  To this union two daughters were born, Deneen and Tracy Rene.

Before Tracy came along Ruby Mae made her way back to Old Original.  She had made up her mind to seriously commit to her walk with God.  Ruby Mae went on to serve in the church on the Usher Board, as the Sunday School Superintendent and the Missionary Society president for a number of years.  Her last assignment at Old Original was serving on the Mothers’ Board.  She became affectionately known as Mother White.  She continued to serve as a devoted member of the church until she required assistance with managing her health.  Mother White once said her then pastor, Reverend Reginald Massey would ALWAYS be her pastor!  Mother White served at Old Original for almost 60 years.

In December of 2015 Mother White relocated to Madison, Wisconsin.  On September 18, 2016, after weighing the teachings of the Apostolic doctrine presented by Elder Jeffrey Lomax at Word of Life Apostolic Church in Madison, Wisconsin, Mother White answered the call of Water Baptism in the Name of Jesus Christ.  Having been an avid reader of the bible over the years, Ruby Mae had developed good recall of the word of God.  There were times during bible study sessions she was able to finish Pastor Lomax’ quotes of scriptures.      

Mother White was not only committed to her church, she proved to have high levels of commitment in other areas of her life.  She retired from Frederick Cooper Lamp Company in 2006, after 39 years of service as a lamp packer.  Often times she worked overtime and it wasn’t uncommon for Mother White to work through her vacations in an effort to provide for her children.  When she found herself raising her children alone, Mother White learned to sew to make clothes for her children.  She learned to drive and then she purchased a car so she and her girls would have transportation.  She went on to save for the down payment on a single family home for her and the girls.  She was committed to raising her girls to know the Lord.  Faithfully, Sunday mornings started with family prayer in the White household.

Mother White was preceded in death by her husband Charlie White; two brothers, Willie Murrell, Jr. and Alvin Murrell; and one sister, Thomastine Moses.

Mother White is survived by her two daughters, Deneen (Ronnie) Smith of Springfield, IL, and Tracy Rene (Jeffrey) Lomax of Sun Prairie, WI; one grandson, Jasper (Tasha) Ivy of Chicago, IL; two granddaughters, Ember and Kymber Lomax of Madison, WI; four great-granddaughters Anna and Ashley Johnson, Jada and Gabriella Ivy all of Raleigh, North Carolina; eight grand-godchildren:  Amoire Gonzales, Taylor and Tyler Hunt, David Williams, Samuel and Breana Washington, Keith Davis, Jr. and Moriah Murry; her sisters, Hazel Jean Halley of Eudora, AR and Linda (Frank) Morris of Gary, IN; her brothers, Andrew (Martha) Murrell and Render (Betty) Murrell all of Kansas City, MO; a special church daughter, Classie “Cookie” Hardin of Decatur, IL; her Old Original Church family; her Word of Life Church family; the Frederick Cooper family, and many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

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