Ruby M. (Dowdy) Alston

Funeral Service to be held this Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. at the New Hope Chapel located at 477 Oak St. Vale, Oregon, with a graveside service to follow at 1:00 p.m. at Valley View Cemetery.

Ruby peacefully passed away at the age of 90 on Saturday, April 8th, 2023, at her home in Vale Oregon. In heaven, Ruby joins her late husband Sherman, who has been waiting for her there since February 2012. Ruby and Sherman were long time residents of Vale, Oregon.

Ruby was born to Julia Mae and Oren Turner Dowdy in Washington, Oklahoma on January 15, 1933. She was the sixth of twelve children. She met her true love, Sherman Alston, in January 1950. The two instantly fell for each other; so much so that Ruby even agreed to marry him after he told her he was going to remote Alaska to work on the pipelines. They married on January 7th, 1950, and soon thereafter found themselves living in a tiny cabin in Alaska where they raised their four children; Ronnie, Craig, Margaret and Sherman Jr. Then they moved to California for a short spell, before returning to Alaska where they remained until retirement. After Sherman retired from the Anchorage School District in 1978, they returned to Oklahoma for a few years. Finally settling in the wide open spaces of Brogan, Oregon in 1982, they later moved to Vale Oregon in 2000.

Ruby led a life filled with experience. She picked cotton and fruit, worked as a school cook, and volunteered with her church and community. The one thing she loved most of all was taking care of her family and raising her children, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren. Throughout her life, there was rarely a time when she wasn’t caring for a grandchild or great-grandchild, and she relished in that fact. She was truly the boss of the family and kept us all in line with her sassy and assertive demeanor.

Ruby was incredibly talented. She was an excellent baker and cook. She was a crafter and artist who loved to share her many talents with her family and friends. She did everything! Sewing, knitting, crochet, ceramics, pottery, sculpting, jewelry making, rockhounding and tumbling, painting, drawing, and anything else you can think of. She enjoyed volunteering with her church and in her community. She taught art classes, set up special holiday events, cooked up multiple dishes for potlucks and weddings, and donated her beautiful crafts and award-winning pies to fundraisers, and won many awards for her canned goods and crafts.

Ruby left this world, for her well-earned resting place in heaven. She was surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whose love for her is a testament to the life she led. She is preceded in death by her parents Oren and Julia Dowdy; her sisters Violet, Elsa, Martha, Margie, and Doris; her brothers Howard Leroy, Leonard Allen, Oren, and Clovis; and her children Craig and Sherman Jr. She is survived by her brothers; Eugene and Kenneth; her children Ron and Meg; her grandchildren Tanya, Luke, Rich, and Amanda; and her great-grandchildren Wesley, Ruby, Ariana, Aspyn, Kamea, Madison, Logan and Susan.

Although she is now enjoying an eternity of joy with Sherman and the family who went before her, she will be dearly missed by all those she has left behind.

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