Ruby Parks

After a brief illness, Ruby Fay Parks went to be with her Lord on June 18, 2025 at Golden Valley Memorial Hospital in Clinton, Missouri.



Ruby was born August 17, 1931 at Eldon, Missouri to Noble Warren and Ethel Pearl (Downing) Upton. Since Noble's work as a Section Foreman for the Missouri Pacific Railroad required the family to move frequently, she completed the last two years of high school at Eldon graduating in 1949. After graduation she was employed as a Clerk Stenographer for the Miller County Welfare Office. After two years at that position, she became a Caseworker.



After dating three years, Ruby married her high school sweetheart, Avery Lee Baucom on October 22, 1951 at the Aurora Springs Baptist Church. After graduating high school, Avery joined the U.S. Air Force in 1950 during the Korean War. Avery died of a heart attack on Jan 3, 1954 while stationed at Neubiberg Air Base in Germany one month short of his 22nd birthday. No children were born to this marriage. After Avery's death, Ruby attended Central Missouri State College in Warrensburg, where she met her second husband, Olin L. Parks.



Olin and Ruby were married five weeks after they met on May 26, 1955 at the First Baptist Church in Warrensburg. Olin brought two sons to this marriage. The family grew with the birth of three more sons in four years. Ruby began working with Olin while living in Sedalia where they started their own insurance agency in the Spring of 1960. The family moved to Windsor in 1963 and purchased the Monroe Petering insurance agency. The Windsor business evolved into a partnership with Ralph Allen when it expanded to include real estate sales. Ruby was both a real estate broker and an insurance agent, working alongside her husband until her retirement.



Ruby accepted Jesus Christ as her personal Savior at the age of nineteen. She was a faithful member of the First Baptist Church of Windsor where she had served as Church Clerk, Sunday School Teacher and choir member. She was active in community organizations where she had been the Past Worthy Matron of the Windsor Chapter of the Eastern Star; Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce; and a member of both the Midwest Missouri Board of Realtors and TOPS.



Ruby was also preceded in death by her parents, her husband of 57 years, Olin L. Parks, an infant brother, Noble Wayne Upton, her sisters Rose Marie Shroyer and Hazel Lee Potts, a daughter-in-law, Claudia Parks (Larry) and grandsons, Andrew Herbert Parks and James Olin Parks. She is survived by two brothers, Donald W Upton (Nancy) and Samuel T Upton (Marlyn), five sons, Olin L. Parks II (Lemira), Larry M. Parks, Michael G. Parks (Rosanne), Mark E. Parks (Lisa), Kevin W. Parks (Nancy), ten grandchildren, seventeen great-grandchildren and eight great-great-grandchildren.



Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m., Monday, June 23, 2025, at the First Baptist Church, Windsor, with Pastor Sam Upton and Pastor Mike Brown officiating. Burial will be in the Laurel Oak Cemetery, Windsor. The family will receive friends before the service from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the church. Friends may call Sunday, June 22, from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Hadley Funeral Home, Windsor. The family suggests contributions to the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (checks payable to International Missouri Board). Condolences may be left online at www.hadleyfuneralhome.com.