James Sargent "Pete" Ruby Jr.

JAMES SARGENT "PETE" RUBY, JR., 86, passed away Wednesday, January 1, 2025. Pete led a life of loyal service reflected in his love of family and leadership in the community. Born February 19, 1938 in Memphis, Tenn., Pete was the oldest child of James Sargent "Pete" Ruby, Sr. and Julia Maggie Castle Ruby, and the brother of Ken Castle Ruby. The lifelong Memphian attended Snowden and Gragg Elementary Schools, and Memphis Central High School, playing the trumpet in the band and graduating in 1954. He went on to college at Memphis State University where he majored in economics, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1958. In college Pete played in the marching band and was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, serving his junior and senior years as treasurer. He went on to earn his Master of Arts degree in Economics at the University of Mississippi at Oxford in 1960. Pete's strong work ethic, leadership skills, and a love of learning would follow him throughout his life and drive much of his later work. It was during his stint in Oxford that he met his future wife, the late Katerina Miliopulos, on a blind date in 1959. They married June 8, 1962 at Springdale Methodist Church in Memphis after Katerina graduated from Blue Mountain College in Blue Mountain, Miss. The couple settled in the Frayser area. Pete took his first professional job at the Federal Reserve Bank in Downtown Memphis as an entry-level clerk in 1962. Soon after, the Rubys started their family. Daughter Sylvia Lynne was born in 1963 and Julia Michele in 1966. The growing family moved to the Raleigh area, where Pete and Katerina became active in the Raleigh Methodist Church. They sang in the choir and Pete was a leader in the Methodist Men's Club, volunteering at the Mid-South Fair every year, flipping burgers to raise funds at their food stand. The Ruby family were always active, attending school, community, and church events and taking family trips frequently. During the late 1960s, Pete sought further education, attending a year-long treasury management program and earning credits at Louisiana State University. The time away from family was difficult, but he was committed to furthering his education to support his career progress. In 1969, Pete made a career move to Holiday Inns, Inc. in the treasury department at the worldwide headquarters on Lamar Avenue, called Holiday City. In the 1970s, Holiday Inns experienced tremendous growth, and Pete was part of its transformation into an international organization. During this period, the field of Cash Management was fairly new. As Pete networked with his peers across the financial and treasury professions, it became evident that more collaboration, standardization, and educational certification was needed to bring cash management skills to growing companies. To meet this need, in 1979 Pete was one of the founding members of the National Corporate Cash Management Association in Washington, DC., and was its second president in the early 1980s. During this time he was called to testify in front of several congressional panels regarding monetary policy. The body is now called the Association of Financial Professionals and is one of the largest professional financial membership organizations in the world. Pete rose to be an officer at Holiday Inns, as Director of Cash Management, and a leader in this new field of expertise. After Holiday Inns sold to Bass PLC, Pete continued his financial career with stints in leadership positions at National Bank of Commerce as Vice President, Methodist Hospital, and Christ Community Health Services prior to his retirement in 2008. While Katerina loved to travel, and the couple did so frequently, Pete was more at home in his extensive library. An amateur historian as well as an avid reader, Pete collected hundreds of books on U.S. and world history, economics, accounting and finance, religion, and politics and has read almost all of them. Pete had a disciplined approach to his reading: he would methodically tackle each book by reading at least a few chapters daily, and making notes on his learning from each day's session in three-ring binders which he meticulously labeled. Some of his favorite authors were Doris Kearns Goodwin, David McCulloch, Stephen E. Ambrose, and Winston Churchill. He loved to discuss his insights and learning from his books, and joined groups dedicated to historical knowledge, including the West Tennessee Historical Society. He was always interested in discussing the news of the day and enjoyed reading daily newspapers late into life. He loved maps, and was quick to look up in his well-worn atlas any places which came up in discussion. As his daughters married and the extended family grew, Pete's grandchildren were a special devotion and a source of great delight in his later years. He was very committed to the success of his family and saw education as the key to long term security and achievement in life, so he did all he could to support their progress. His grandchildren have many memories of their Popie and Yia Yia attending their concerts, plays, sporting events, and graduations; helping them study and taking them to work and practice; and taking them on many trips. Pete amassed an extensive video library of his grandchildren's life moments, and true to form, transferred the entire collection to DVD along with a meticulous table of contents. Loyalty and commitment to family were a centerpiece of Pete's life. Nearing his retirement, Pete and Katerina became active in the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of Memphis. Katerina had been raised in an Orthodox Greek family in Istanbul. Pete showed his support for his wife returning to her roots by studying the faith, and ultimately solidified his commitment by becoming chrismated in the Church on April 22, 2007. Pete served as a member of the Parish Council, and as treasurer, he was responsible for the financial leadership of the popular annual Greek Festival for seven years. Pete was preceded in death by his parents, wife, and brother. He is survived by his daughters Sylvia Imm of San Diego, Ca.; Julia Eason and her husband James Eason of Memphis; sister-in-law Susan Spence Ruby of Memphis; grandchildren Jacob Ross Burton (Irene) of Cincinnati, Oh., Taylor Kristen Burton (Drennen Quinn) of Decatur, Ga., and James David "Chip" Eason II of Memphis; great-grandchildren Garrett and Avery Rodda of Boston, Mass., and Ruby Etta Quinn of Decatur, Ga.; nephews John Neshiewat (Ruba), Billy Miliopulos (Miladys Felix), Andreas Miliopulos (Athena), Nicholas Miliopulos, Alexi Miliopulos, and Paris Miliopulos; nieces Jacqueline Barlis (Jimmy), and Elena Miliopulos (Triantafillos); along with many grand-nieces and nephews. The family invites friends to gather on Tuesday January 7, 2025, at Memorial Park Funeral Home for a visitation from 6:00pm until 8:00pm. Funeral services will be held Wednesday January 8, 2025 at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church 573 N. Highland ST Memphis, Tn 38112 at 10:00am. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Blue Mountain Christian University in Blue Mountain, Miss., or the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Memphis, Tenn. To view the memorial video online click the link below. https://www.tributeslides.com/tributes/show/QKKB9H6T88YR69X6