Ruby Naomi Brown

On the fall morning of October 14, 1927, a beautiful legacy was born to parents Lee and Beulah Craig in Checotah, Oklahoma, and passed from this life into the arms of her Lord and Savior on January 12, 2026, at the age of 98 in Stilwell, Oklahoma.

Ruby Naomi Brown spent much of her childhood growing up with a huge family living in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and later in the foothills of the Arkansas Ozarks during the Great Depression. Times were tough, but so were they, and those hardships helped form the grit and determination that created a family cornerstone that those who knew her and loved her could set their clock by.

She grew from a beautiful child to a beautiful woman and caught the eye of a Navy boy who had returned from Guam after serving in World War II. After a short courtship, she married James F. Brown on April 6, 1946, and grew their Christian marriage into a loving and strong relationship with her being a pastor’s wife and soulmate that survived 67 years before his passing. For 80 years, Ruby was a proud member of the Church of Christ, and for 63 years, she was a member of the Baron Church of Christ in Baron, Oklahoma, where she found a community that cherished her warmth and kindness.

Ruby spent her years gardening, canning, cooking delicious meals from scratch, and nurturing and teaching her 11 surviving children about life, but most importantly about Jesus Christ. She sewed and made quilts, made clothes, kept an impeccable home, and looked after her children like the little red hen. You would find her during hot summer days sweating over a canner making food to stock the pantry to feed the family. Whatever she got her hands on, she canned, she froze, or she fermented. Most of the fruit and veggies were handpicked, and most came from their garden. Her mouthwatering pies and cobblers, chicken and dumplings, and yeast rolls made her kids and grandkids come back for more. There wasn’t a Sunday after worship that family didn’t gather to eat at her home, and they didn’t want to miss the food and fellowship. Although the children brought food, Ruby’s food alone could have fed an army. Neighbors used to joke that on Sundays after church, the automobiles parked at the Browns looked like a used car lot and you couldn’t fit another one in. But somehow, they did.

Things were not always working and prepping. She loved to take the kids to the creek just a few steps away and swim, fish, and have lunch by the water. The kids learned early to swim and fish, and the boys developed hunting skills, with the old train bridge over the water becoming an icon of simpler years even as it stands today.

She nurtured church families from sister churches; they would stay with her during revivals, and she made sure everyone was fed and comfortable. Her coffeepot and her stove seemed to be in constant use. Her children learned from her, not just cooking and cleaning, but also patience and love. Her calmness and stability during times of crisis became a steadfast pillar for the family.

Ruby is survived by 11 children who carry on her legacy: Patsy Barrett and her late husband, Gene, of Sallisaw; Jimmy Brown and his wife, Pauline, of Westville; her daughter Beverly Ross and her husband, Jr., of Stilwell; David Brown and his wife, Debi, of Westville; Trudy Genson of Westville; Kathy Lewis of Watts; Emma Williams and best friend, Marvin Hogshooter, of Westville; Sheila Wyrick and her husband, Paul, of Broken Arrow; Carl Brown of Westville; Tracie Martin and her late husband, David, of Destin, Florida; and Brett Brown of Phoenix, Arizona. She is also survived by 30 grandchildren, 43 great-grandchildren, a host of great-great-grandchildren, and one brother, Bill Craig, and his wife, Earlene.

Ruby was preceded in death by her beloved husband, James; her parents; her infant daughter, Vivian Jean Brown; great-grandson James Edward (Drake) Martin; great-granddaughter Weather Galindo Cushing; great-great-grandson Baron Grant; great-granddaughter Carrie Ann Wooldridge; and sons-in-law Eugene Barrett and David Martin.

A visitation will be held on Friday, January 16, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Roberts and Hart Funeral Home. On January 18, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., Roberts and Hart Funeral Home will host a funeral service honoring Ruby. Family and friends are invited to gather to honor the remarkable life Ruby lived. Following the service, she will be laid to rest in a burial ceremony on January 19, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. at Ewing Chapel Cemetery in Stilwell, Oklahoma.

In the lives she touched and the love she shared, Ruby N. Brown will always be remembered as a beacon of light, a pillar of strength, and a heart that embraced all who knew her.