Ruby Celebrates 110th Birthday
By Mark Requet
Salt River Community Care resident Ruby Elizabeth Moore-Davis celebrated her 110th birthday Tuesday, July 23, 2024.
Bill Moore, her son, said she moved to Shelbina during Covid in 2020.
Mrs. Moore-Davis grew up on the family’s farm in Coffee County, Kan. She married William Moore, then later married Clyde Davis.
She went to a grade school called Prairieville in Kansas.
“I went there eight years and walked most of the time,” she said. “I went to Colony High School, Kan., and graduated in 1933, so that’s how long it’s been since I’ve been out of high school.”
As for work, she helped out the neighbors for the most part with odd jobs.
“I finally got a job in Iola, Kan., and worked in a candy factory called Sifers making Christmas candy,” stated Moore-Davis. “They called me and asked me if I wanted to help set candy and I said ‘sure.’ I worked there for as long as they were running, and then I did odd jobs after that.”
She remained active in her community as a member of the United Methodist Church in Iola, Happy Hearts FCE Unit, and the Sunflower Quilt Guild, a dedicated volunteer for Allen County Hospital Auxiliary and Red Cross Blood Drive.
Moore-Davis began quilting with her mother and continues quilting to this day, blessing each of her family members with their own unique quilt sewn with love. Determined to live life to the fullest, she celebrated her 100th birthday by zip-lining during a bus trip.
Her son asked her to tell the story about her grandma dealing with Indians. Her grandma used to tell her and the other grandkids Indian stories. She told her the story of how the chief and other Indians would come by her grandmother’s home on their horses in the late 1800s. She said grandma would put a loaf of bread out there for them. One time an Indian came up and wanted two loaves, but she told him no, she made one for her family and one for the Indians. She said they argued over it for some time.
“Finally, the Chief came up and asked what was going on, so she told him he wants two loaves,” said Moore-Davis, recalling the story. “I have one for my family and one for yours. The chief told the Indian to get on his horse and not to stop there anymore.”
Moore-Davis said there have been a lot of changes throughout her lifetime, something she hasn’t really thought too much about.
“She’s lived through the Spanish Flu, so when Covid hit, she didn’t think it was a big deal,” said Moore. “She also had a neighbor that took in a girl off the Orphan train, if anyone remembers what that is.”
Of all the changes, technology has been the hardest for her to adjust to, especially cell phones, which she said took a lot of patience.
She continued to drive until she was 100 years old. She took her driving test in Kansas when she turned 99 and 100 years old and she passed her test both times. She stopped driving after several close encounters with her garage she said with a laugh.
“I was talking to her while she was living in southeast Kansas and she was bragging about going to get some peaches,” said Moore. “I asked where she got them. She said she went to Fort Scott to get them. I asked her how she got there, and she said she drove. I said that was it.”
“I told him I wasn’t going to drive anymore, and I wanted to get rid of my car,” Mrs. Moore-Davis said. “Boy, he got on the phone and had it sold in no time.”
She says she likes living at Salt River Community Care.
“People are nice here and I get along with all of them here pretty good,” she said.
She soon exited the room to go be with her peers in the community room to enjoy cake with her friends. She received a resolution from the Missouri Senate and a letter from Missouri Governor Mike Parsons congratulating her on her 110th birthday.
