RUBY DELL GERALDINE BRIGHAM BURNIM

The Angelic Hosts came for Mrs. Ruby Burnim on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020, at her Grand Prairie residence among loving family and devoted friends. Viewing will be Thursday, Nov. 12, 1-6 p.m. in the Funeral Home Chapel. Graveside services will be held Friday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. in the Pine Grove Cemetery, 6005 Texas Hwy 7, Nacogdoches, under the direction of Moore’s Angelic Funeral Home. A virtual memorial service has been planned for Mrs. Burnim for Saturday, Nov. 25.

Ruby Dell Geraldine Brigham was born to Jodie Lincoln Brigham and Leola Elizabeth Fowler Brigham in the all-Black community of Neylandville, on July 7, 1926. She graduated from St. Paul High School and entered Prairie View A&M College, where she earned a B.S. in Home Economics, and met her life mate, Arzo Burnim. After graduating from Prairie View, Ruby returned to Neylandville to teach in the public schools. She married Arzo on Dec. 21, 1947, and they moved to Furney Richardson, where Arzo began his teaching career. Four children were born to this union – Mickey, Mellonee, Avis (who passed away shortly after birth), and Wonda.

Initially choosing to be a full-time mother after marrying Arzo, Ruby later resumed her teaching career at G.B. Bennett Elementary School in Buffalo. After a short tenure there, she secured an appointment at J.A. Brooks Elementary, and later, Sallie Mounger Elementary, where she was one of the first African American teachers to serve in the newly-integrated Teague Independent School District during the late 1960s. In 1990, after a thirty-year career, Ruby chose to retire, in order to provide full-time care for her husband, who was facing serious health challenges.

During her 67 years of marriage, Ruby was an active member of the Teague community, where she was a faithful member of Titus Chapel UMC, serving as Sunday School teacher, Methodist Youth Fellowship leader, communion steward and choir member. Friends and family alike remember her brisk walks around the neighborhood, which only the fittest could match. In their later years, she and Arzo served as volunteers with Meals on Wheels.

Ruby will always be remembered for her beautiful smile, humble spirit, and quiet demeanor, as well as her delectable homemade jellies and her scrumptious hot-water cornbread. She was equally wellknown for encouraging young people – her own children and grandchildren, as well as her students – to “Be your best self!” The most prominent as-pect of her character was how she shared her Christian beliefs, most strongly her undeniably powerful faith walk.

In 2007, Ruby and Arzo moved to Cedar Hill to be near Wonda, who would provide the level of assistance with daily living they increasingly required. Even after Arzo’s passing in 2015, she continued to spread joy to everyone she encountered as she showered others with her spirit of joy, her unceasing thoughtfulness and her genuine penchant for bringing out the best in others.

Ruby was preceded in death by her parents, husband, infant daughter Avis, sister Theresa Brigham McCalister, and brother Lloyd Gene Brigham.

Her survivors include her sister Edethia Wright of Orlando, Fla.; son Mickey Burnim (LaVera) of Bowie, Md.; daughters Mellonee Burnim of Bloomington, Ind., and Wonda Burnim Hinnant (Milton) of Cedar Hill. She was also blessed with five grandchildren: Cinnamon Burnim Bowser (Steven) of Woodbridge, Va.; Adrian Burnim (Kimberly) of Burtonsville, Md.; Jamel Arzo Dotson of Los Angeles, Calif.; Syan Hinnant of Cedar Hill and M.L. Hinnant of Bloomington, Ind; her five great-grandchildren are Madison Bowser of College Station; Cooper and Cole Bowser of Woodbridge, Va., and Akim and Arzo Burnim of Burtonsville, Md. Many nieces, nephews and cousins are also among her survivors.

Visit mooresangelicfuneralhome.com to sign the guestbook and light a candle.