The busy hands of 88-year-old Ruby Louise Clinton were stilled in death on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012, with her faithful husband of 71 years by her side.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at Johnston Funeral Home, Ina, with burial following at Kirk Cemetery, north of Ina. Brother Brad Ryan will officiate. Friends and family may call on Friday between the hours of 5 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home.

Ruby Louise was born at the Cook family farm north of Ina, on July 27, 1924, the second child of Ray and Rose (Green) Cook.

She married Melvin W. Clinton on Jan. 15, 1941, and to that union, three children were born.

She was an accomplished seamstress and creator of beautiful handwork, many of which she donated to various fundraising causes. In addition to more than 30 years of employment outside the home, she was an Army wife, farm wife, sports mom, loving gram and family caregiver. Her life's work included ladies' fashions, first as a line foreman at the Mode O Day Dress Factory in Benton, then as a retail clerk and designer at the Fabric Store and Rose's Dress Shop, retiring in 1986 from DeLite Lighting Fixtures, all in Mt. Vernon. She loved to travel, attending annual reunions of the historical WWII Merrill's Marauders with her husband and spending winters as an Illinois snowbird in Florida, until she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2001.

She is survived by her husband, Melvin W. Clinton; daughter, Loretta (Clinton) and son-in-law, Keith Fowler; son, Eugene (Gene) and daughter-in-law, Barbara (Vaughn) Clinton, all of Ina; four grandchildren and their spouses, Susan (Fowler) and Bruce Slamans of Sugar Grove, David and Sheila (Settle) Fowler of Chicago, Pam (Clinton) and Owen Allen, and Wayne and Melinda (Sneed) Clinton, all of Ina; seven great-grandchildren, Kyle, Ashlyn and Tyler Slamans of Sugar Grove, Samantha and Spencer Allen and Page and Shaylee Clinton, all of Ina. One sister, Roberta McKinney of Benton, as well as a host of additional family, friends and devoted caregivers also survive.

She was preceded in death by a son, David Lee Clinton, who died at the age of 16 in a 1967 farm accident; her parents; three brothers, Byford L. Cook, Russell E. Cook and Donald L. Cook; and a niece, Sharon E. Cook.

Should you so desire, memorials may be made to the Kirk Cemetery Association with which Mrs. Clinton was actively involved for many years or to the St. Mary's Good Samaritan Hospice Program, which assisted in her final care, and will be accepted at Johnston Funeral Home, Ina.

Source: Mt. Vernon IL Register News
Date: November 1, 2012
Submitted by: Loretta Clinton Fowler