Ruby Birmingham

Ruby Young Birmingham, 85, widow of G. Van Birmingham, Jr. and resident of Kings Mountain, N.C., passed away Nov. 22, 2007, at Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital in Greenville, S.C., after a brief illness. Mrs. Birmingham had recently lived at Brighton Gardens of Greenville.

Born in Kershaw County, S.C., she was the daughter of Thomas Henry and Cornelia Pace Young. She was a member of Central United Methodist Church in Kings Mountain, N.C., and previously at First United Methodist Church in Gastonia, N.C.

Mrs. Birmingham received a Bachelor of Science, cum laude, from Winthrop College in 1943 and taught science in Easley, S.C., before moving to Gastonia. In Gastonia, she was a science teacher and ecological pioneer with her activities as a volunteer for Crowders Mountain State Park and Schiele Museum and as a member of National Audubon and the Sierra Club. In 1972-73, she received recognition for establishing Ecology Clubs as an activity of the Gaston County Schools and in 1979 she received the first place award for the NACD-Allis Chalmers Environmental Education Program for the Southeastern Region of the United States.

She is survived by her daughters, Jane B. Morlan of Simpsonville, S.C., and Rebecca B. Cooley of Gray Court, S.C., by Charles T. Watson and Walter A. Cooley, by two granddaughters and two great-grandsons, by cousins, Carrie C. and R. B. Wilson, and by numerous nieces and nephews. Jane and Becky are deeply grateful to Brighton Gardens of Greenville Reminiscence staff family and to Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital.

Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 26, 2007, at McLean Funeral Homes at 700 South New Hope Road in Gastonia, preceded by visitation beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Memorials may be made to South Carolina Music Educators Association Memorial Scholarship or the conservation/preservation cause of your choice.

Email condolences to www.mcleanfuneral.com