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- VINTON, VA — Ruby Chloe Wright Testerman, 95, of Vinton, Virginia, completed her earthly journey on Monday, February 29, 2016, in Roanoke, Virginia.
She was living self-reliantly until the onset of a sudden illness in December of 2015. She was born in Shady Valley, Tennessee, on May 17, 1920, the next to last of seven children, to Girdie Belle McEwen Wright and Allen Jesse Wright, on the farm that has been in the family since 1789. Ruby Testerman's calling to care for others has been lived out as a mother and as a nurse on three continents, including Africa, in addition to Europe and North America. Ruby served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army Nurse Corps in Swindon, England during World War II, attending to soldiers wounded in The Battle of the Bulge.
Ruby completed registered nursing training at Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, Virginia. She continued her education at both the Medical College of Virginia and the University of Virginia. From 1954-1987, she worked competently and compassionately as a public health nurse with the Roanoke County Health Department. In her retirement years, she traveled far and wide, as well as donating much volunteer time to church and charitable organizations, making new friends along the way.
She was the last surviving of the seven children. Her siblings were: Kyle Wright, Walter Preston Wright, Retha Morley McKee, Lena Ruth Douglas, Letha Sluder and Haynes Wright.
She was one of a long line of strong matriarchs. To know Ruby was to know her mother and her Grandmother McEwen. Her mind for details suited her to being the family genealogist, oral historian and storyteller. She was married for 23 years to Virgil Lee Testerman (d. January 2, 1972).
Survivors include Michael Lee Testerman and family friend Miriam Daughtry of Richmond, Virginia; and Dennis Eugene Testerman and wife Paula Meador Testerman of Concord, North Carolina. She is also survived by sisters-in-law Eva Testerman and Chrysteen Wright, as well as numerous cousins, nephews and nieces, with whom she has maintained extensive personal ties.
Family visitation will be held at Oakey's Funeral Services-Vinton, from 2 - 4 p.m. and 6 - 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 3.
A celebration of Ruby's life will be held on Friday, March 4 at 11 a.m., at Vinton Baptist Church, where she was an active member for 62 years.
Family visitation will also be held at Mountain City Funeral Home, 224 S. Church Ave., Mountain City, TN from 6 - 8 p.m. on Friday, March 4. Burial will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 5, in Shady Valley, Tennessee at the old Gentry Cemetery (Shady Valley Memorial Gardens) on US 421.
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1920 - 2016 (95 years)
