Ruth Cavender

Ruth Genese Cavender was born on June 16, 1939, in Lochgelly, West Virginia and left this Earth to join her husband in heaven April 21, 2024.  Ruth was born a coal miner’s daughter, the middle of Richard and Effie Lee Carter’s nine children.  Her early years were spent in mining housing and later a farm in Lochgelly where she learned early on the importance of doing her chores before school.  That upbringing led to an indefatigable work ethic that stayed with her until the very end of her life.  She graduated from Collins Hill High School in Oak Hill in 1957 and moved to Charleston, West Virginia shortly thereafter for an administrative job at the West Virginia state lab.  There, she met the love of her life, John.  This past September, they celebrated 63 years of marriage together, and she simply couldn’t wait any longer to join him in heaven following his passing in February.

Ruth’s life was epitomized by an enduring faith, devotion to family, and an insatiable desire to work.   She grew up attending the Church of the Nazarene in Oak Hill, West Virginia, and her faith was always central to who she was.  For the last twenty years, she was an active member of the Second Baptist Church of Rockmart, where she loved singing in the choir.  Her last Sunday alive, she was thrilled to attend one more service to hear preacher David Warriner give a sermon and to receive the love and affection of her church family.

Throughout her life, her family was a central focus of devotion.  She was a loving daughter who returned to West Virginia as often as she could to visit her parents while they were still living, and she loved and cherished every moment she could spend with her siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces, who were spread far and wide across the country.  Motherhood, however, was her central calling in life.   She was a devoted mother to her three children, Mark, Kim and Jeff, attending every sporting event, piano recital, and band concert, always taking a keen interest in everything her kids adopted as their latest pastime.  The only thing that may have surpassed her devotion as a mother was the love and affection she showered on her six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

Anyone who met Ruth witnessed a calm and reserved demeanor.  She was hard to excite but also hard not to love.  She was the perfect contrast to her outgoing and trouble-making husband John.   You rarely, if ever, saw her without her hair and makeup perfectly done, and you would never catch her immodestly dressed or acting inappropriately.  She loved to bowl and play bridge, and she was an amazing cook.  Her Sunday roasts and fresh-baked bread will be sorely missed by anyone lucky enough to sample them.

While gentle in spirit, there was nothing reserved about her devotion to hard work.  After her kids started school, Ruth returned to the workforce where she excelled in the customer service departments of Ellman’s and Macy’s department stores.  She finished her career as an administrative assistant and office manager of the Brett J. Pizza law office in Marietta, Georgia.  In retirement, she remained busy – always doing her morning chores like she learned as a kid and never wanting to sit idle while there was work to be done.  Even after her body started to fail her, she found herself falling in her attempts to complete her never-ending chores.  The pearly gates will have a greater shine as soon as Ruth has a chance to get her hands on them.

Ruth was predeceased by her husband John, her parents Richard and Effie Lee Carter, her brother Denzel Carter, her brother Mac Carter and his wife Nancy, her sister Mary Ellen and her husband Frank Kincaid, her sister Norma Patrick, her sister Jean and her husband Fred Pack, her brother-in-law Darrell Goins, and her sister Deanna and her husband Johnny Davis.  She is survived by her son Mark Cavender and his wife Carla, her daughter Kim DeLoach and her husband John, her son Jeff Cavender and his wife Ginger, her grandchildren, Kevin Dukes and his wife Mallory, Kyle Dukes and his wife Sarah, Savannah Martin and her husband Woody, Abigail Jones and her husband Drew, Lindsey Cavender, and Katie Cavender, and her great grandchildren Noah Dukes, Grayson Dukes, Scarlett Dukes, Kinsley Dukes, Lucas Dukes, Lucy Dukes and Mabel Dukes.  She is also survived by her sister Priscilla and her husband Kenny Renick, her sister Alma Goins, her brother-in-law Chris Patrick, and the many nephews and nieces that she loved dearly.

Funeral services to celebrate the life of Ruth G. Cavender will be held on Friday, April 26, 2024, at 2 p.m. in the Second Baptist Church of Rockmart with the Rev. David Warriner officiating and eulogies to be delivered by family members.  Interment will follow at the Rockmart Memorial Gardens.

Mrs. Cavender will lie in state at the church on Friday from 1:00 pm until the funeral hour.

Ruth’s family will receive friends Thursday evening, April 25, 2024, at Alvis Miller & Son Funeral Home from 6 p.m. to 8.p.m.

Pallbearers will include Kevin Dukes, Kyle Dukes, Drew Jones, David Burnley, Keith Quinn and John Jenkins.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in memory of Ruth and John Cavender to the Second Baptist Church of Rockmart, 112 South Piedmont Avenue, Rockmart, Georgia 30153.