MARJORIE RUFFIN

RUFFIN, Marjorie Belvin, died November 30, 2009 at age 100. She was the daughter of Lucille Deaderick Belvin and John Allan Belvin, who was a founding member of The Country Club of Virginia. She was the great-granddaughter of Dr. Ephraim McDowell of Danville, Ky., who was the renowned pioneer in abdominal surgery, performing the first ovariotomy in the world on Christmas Day, 1809. She was also the great-granddaughter of Isaac Shelby, the first governor of Kentucky. She attended Collegiate School and St. Mary's School in Raleigh, N.C. In 1934, she married Craige Ruffin. They were married for 56 years until his death in 1992. During her life, she had been a member of The Country Club of Virginia, The Woman's Club, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Historical Society, the Historic Richmond Foundation and the McDowell House which is on the National Historic Register. She is survived by one daughter, Marjorie Ruffin Cain of Leesburg, Fla.; two grandsons, Joseph Ruffin Cain of Jacksonville, Fla. and John Belvin Cain of Cape Coral, Fla.; three great-granddaughters and one great-grandson. A service will be held at the Central Chapel of Bennett Funeral Home, 3215 Cutshaw Avenue, on Saturday, December 5, at 11 a.m. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made to either Odyssey Health Care, 2810 N. Parham Rd., Suite 150, Richmond, Va. 23294, or to the McDowell House, 125 South 2nd St., Danville, Ky. 40422.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.