Ruby Gray Horton Bullock

Ruby Gray Horton Bullock, 104, of Raleigh, NC went to be with the Lord on Saturday, June 29, 2019. She is preceded in death by her beloved husband, Edward T. Bullock, her parents, Darius and Mamie Horton, a granddaughter, Melissa Watkins, a son-in-law, Larry Watkins, a daughter-in-law, Shirley Bullock, a great-great grandchild, Angel Cummings, 3 sisters and a brother. Ruby was born in Franklin County where she grew up on a farm and helped with crops, livestock, and cooking. She was a bit of a tomboy who loved to climb trees, play softball and was on the broad jumping team at school. She graduated from Bunn High School. She never had a driver’s license but could drive a wagon with a mule in the lead. We loved to hear her stories about milking cows and “picking out a chicken” for dinner. She and her husband Eddie loved to go to the Saturday night dances. They lived in various places as they raised their children. After moving to Raleigh, she worked in the baby nursery at Rex Hospital and while working there had the pleasure of her first grandchild being born and was thrilled that she was the first one to take care of him. She went to work at Westinghouse where she retired after 22 years. She was a long time member of Pilot Baptist Church where she attended most Sundays. She provided the church with many wonderful dishes at the potluck dinners. She enjoyed Pastor Karl’s sermons and singing hymns. She loved family gatherings and everyone looked forward to visiting her. She insisted that if you visited you had to eat! Everyone always ended up in the kitchen. She was affectionately known as “The Cake Lady” in her Oakwood community. Two or three days a week she took cakes to Person St. Pharmacy Café to be sold with sandwiches and hot dogs. Lemon pound cake was one of her best with pineapple cake coming in second. She loved her flowers and had a true green thumb with a gift for growing beautiful red roses. She loved to read and passed books around the family to share. She was a great seamstress and helped many family members alter their clothes. She was known to most people as “MEMA”, although she had many nicknames. She loved playing cards and was quite good at it. She never minded telling anyone her age, she was proud of it. She was the true matriarch of our large family and she will be greatly missed by all. Mema had many friends and neighbors she treasured. Janice Decker, a dear close friend, and neighbors Tom and Lisa Barrie and Asia their cat who visited almost daily. She is survived by her four children, Barbara Watkins, Harold Bullock, Allen Bullock and Nancy Howard, 6 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren, 13 great-great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Internet Links about Mema: http://waltermagaine.com/art-and-culture/on-mothers-what-miss-ruby-taught-me/ https://www.historicoakwood.org/oral-histories#/1969-ruby-bullock-1 A visitation will be held on July 13, 2019, 2:00-4:00pm, at Bryan-Lee Funeral Home, 831 Wake Forest Rd, Raleigh, NC In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to: Pilot Baptist Church 1012 N. Blount Street, Raleigh, NC 27604