Ruby Elizabeth Governor- Blog Post

 

Name of Deceased: Ruby Elizabeth Governor

Date of Birth: October 8, 1922

Date of Death: December 28, 1930

Location in Cemetery (section, lot, space): T-17-1 North

Description of Individual and Grave site:

Ruby Elizabeth Governor was the daughter of John S. Governor and Milton Smith Governor. She was 8 years and 2 months old when she died. Due to the nature of her short life and when she lived it was hard to find anything about her life specifically, other than her death certificate. While even that was difficult to decipher, it looks as if she died from pneumonia. Ruby’s father John Governor was born in Ireland in 1889 and moved to America in 1904. Her mother was born in Virginia in 1906. They were married at 32 and 15, with a 17-year age gap. Together the couple had 6 children. In order from oldest to youngest it went John S., Ruby Elizabeth, Virginia S., Richard Lewis, Marie, Mildred F. Marie was born in 1931, so she would not have any recollection of her older sister, and the youngest daughter Mildred was born after the death of Ruby. John Governor’s job was that he owned the John S. Governor Grocery store in Campbell County Virginia. This was the family business, and it was noted in some of the obituaries of the now deceased siblings of Ruby. John, the father, died in 1957, at age 67, Milton lived until 2001 so she was 95 when she passed away. Ruby’s brother John died in 2008, he was 86 and had been married for 66 years to his wife Virginia, he remained in Lynchburg. Ruby’s sister Virginia died in 2013 at the age of 88, she had moved out of Virginia and was residing in Ohio. Richard Lewis died in 1982, at only 55 years old. He had served in the military. Marie passed away a few years ago in 2019 at the age of 87, she lived in Madison Heights, Va. The youngest sister who was born in 1938, Mildred, passed away in 1989 at 51 years old. Below I have pictured 4 photos from the Presbyterian Cemetery off Grace Street in Lynchburg. The first one is a stone for the Governor family on it is said, “no pain, no griefs, no anxious fear can reach our loved ones sleeping here.” The three Governor’s who were buried in this spot are John S., Milton, and Ruby. The young girl is buried alongside her parents. Her parents both have simple stones which read “loved by all” Ruby has a stone which is taller and heart shaped and on it there is a message along with her name and the dates of her birth and death. The message is no longer readable as it has been facing the elements for some 90 years. It’s sad to hear a story of such a young child who passed early in life, looking at documents you can find facts and dates to try to put pieces together about a family, but we do not get to know the grieving and pain that these parents and siblings went through with the loss of Ruby.