Ruby Phillips Hoover

Ruby Hoover, 89, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, passed away December 9, 2023.
Ruby was born in Pennsylvania, January 24, 1934. Although she grew up on a large farm and helped tend her family’s chickens (a task she was not fond of), she was not a conventional woman.
She obtained a nursing degree and became a stewardess – now known as a flight attendant – for Eastern Airlines. There, she met a charming, witty, mischief causing man who hacked his own path through life, Howard “Ole’ Dad” Hoover. After a first date that consisted of scraping barnacles and sewing curtains for “Ole’ Dad’s” boat, she married him – hiding their marriage so she could continue flying. She inherited two step daughters in the process.
With the wing-man-love-of-her-life, she traveled the world; places most people wouldn’t think of vacationing – the USSR, as a yacht envoy to improve relations with Cuba in the 1970’s, China, the Caribbean, Thailand, Germany, South America, all over the United States – in campers, tents, cabins, ghost towns, and hotels… But her favorite place was Africa. She loved going on safari and seeing wildlife – wild and up close. Photographs taken during her African safaris were the favorites from her extensive travels. Even after her retirement, and the loss of “Ole’ Dad”, she continued to travel. In her 70’s, she traveled to Japan, the Galapagos Islands, South Africa and cruised the South Seas. She was able to take college classes on Study Abroad where she would spend months on a ship traveling throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.
Ruby was fiercely independent, pragmatic, loved to tell stories, and loved with quiet strength. She was the type of woman who hesitated to hire a rickshaw until she was convinced the rickshaw driver would not be taken advantage of by others and ensure that he was able to go home with decent pay for his family that night; the type of woman to take her step-daughters and granddaughter on a cruise to Hawaii after “Ole’ Dad’s” death to ensure they could continue to spend time together. She attended all kinds of shows; comedies, plays, or bands. She kept her husband’s memory and his personality alive for extended family. Most recently, she kept “Ole’ “Dad’s” penchant for nick-names alive with her great-grandsons “The Fish” and “Striker”. Her love language was quality time; she was always grateful for her time spent with her family, especially when the opportunities for photos were involved.
Ruby was preceded in death by her husband Howard “Ole’ Dad” Hoover “and is survived by her brother Lee, niece Jody, two step-daughters Louie (Charlos) and Maxi (Lynn), three granddaughters, Gargoylee (Jay), Tori, and Andi; and two great-grandchildren, The Fish and Striker.
At Ruby’s request there will be no formal services; donations in her honor can be made to American Cancer Association, American Heart Association or Salvation Army.