Ruby Lorraine Huckaba

(0) SignaturesMISSOULA – Longtime Missoula resident Ruby Lorraine Huckaba, 92, passed away Sunday, June 30, 2013, of natural causes. Ruby passed away peacefully in her home on Jackson Street, where she had lived since 1974.

Ruby was born on July 10, 1920, in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, to Claude and Francis Girard. She was the second-born, after Virgil, and before a younger brother and sister, both of whom died in infancy. Virgil died in World War II; Ruby never lost her pride or admiration for her big brother.

When she was 2, Ruby fell from the balcony in her home and became legally blind. Her life in Montana began when her mother brought her to Boulder to attend the School for the Blind.

While attending a high school dance in Whitehall, Ruby met DeVerne Huckaba. They married Jan. 15, 1936, she always said it was the happiest day of her life. Ruby and DeVerne were married 55 years when he died in 1991. Ruby and DeVerne were loving parents of two daughters.

She is survived by daughters, Anna May Martin (Chuck) of Sun City West, Ariz., and Gwen Jeffrey of Missoula; four grandchildren, Perry Martin, Paris Martin, Shari Cougar-Martin and Shelane Hughson; seven great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren.

Ruby loved camping, fishing, gardening, beautiful brooches, animals and good friends. But her absolute joy was seeing her daughters, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and she decorated her home with her favorite pictures of them.

First United Methodist Church in Missoula had been Ruby's church home for more than 60 years. The Rev. Barry Padget will officiate her service there Monday, July 8, at 11 a.m. with a reception to follow. A gravesite interment at Sunset Memorial Gardens will follow at 3 p.m. for close family and friends.

Read Ruby Huckaba's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.