Rudy Irene Dyer

May 23, 1921 - August 13, 2012; Age 91 years, 2 months, 21 days
Rudy Irene Dyer was born in Florence, Kansas, Virgil Bruce ad Myrtle Helen Yoho Dyer. When Ruby was about two years old, her parents' marriage failed, and her older brother Virgil was sent to an orphanage, her younger sister Evelyn stayed with their mother, and Ruby was taken in by the Jones family neat LeRoy Kansas. Ruby attended a country school before entering high school in LeRoy. About that time, she left the Jones family and went to live with James and Ginny Carmine, a kind and generous couple from her church, where she stayed until she was married to Cecil Eugene Meats on August 20, 1938.
Cecil and Ruby had 5 children: Larry, born in Independence, Kansas, March 30, 1041, now living in Portsmouth, NH; Stephen, born in LeRoy, March 16, 1944, now living in Pittsburg, KS; David, born in Concordia, November 13, 1946, now living in Noblesville, IN; Carol, born in Concordia, April 19, 1950, now living in near Florissant, CO, and Carl, born in Concordia, October 15, 1953, where he still resides.
In 1945, Ruby and Cecil moved from LeRoy to a home three miles north and west of Concordia, where Ruby was a homemaker. In 1954, the family moved to a home on the southwest corner of West 5th and willow Streets in Concordia where they lived until the children were out of high school. Then they moved to a small house on Church Street where Cecil died October 2, 1978. In 1955, Ruby took a job at St. Joseph's Hospital in Concordia, where she worked on the cleaning staff and then as a nurse's aide before being promoted to ward clerk, Ruby retired from the hospital in 1986, and about that time married Lyman Keith Harrington.
After retiring, Ruby enjoyed reading, volunteering at the food bank and the senior citizens' center, participating in church activities, especially the prayer group; traveling with friends and visiting relatives as her health would permit; and spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. After Lyman died on March 3, 1994, Ruby was able to continue living independently in the home she and Lyman had shared on West 10th Street due mainly to the daily constant loving care of her son, Carl, his wife, Lorette, and their two daughters, Abbie and Ashley, and in the last few years before her death, the companionship of her little dog, Duffy. Each year, Ruby attended the Meats family reunion, and lived to be the last surviving member of the eleven siblings and spouses on her generation. In June 2011, her children and their families gathered in Concordia to honor her in a grand celebration of her 90th birthday. A woman of quiet yet steadfast faith, Ruby was a long time member of the Trinity United Methodist Church.
Ruby is survived by her five children, by grandchildren Jim, Jeff, Jodi, Kathleen, Lauren, John, Lael, Owen, Tammy, Angela, David Ilk, Heath, Brent, Lynette, Jacob, Abbie, and Ashley, and eighteen great-grandchildren.
Memorials in Ruby's name may be made to the Trinity United Methodist Church. Funeral services will be Friday, Aug. 17, 2012 at 10:30 am at Trinity United Methodist Church, Concordia. Visitation will be Thursday, August 16 at Nutter Mortuary, 1:00 pm - 8:00 pm with family receiving friends 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm. Memorial contributions are to the Trinity United Methodist Church. Burial will be at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Concordia.
Online condolences may be left at nuttermortuary@yahoo.com
Nutter Mortuary, 116 E. 6th St. Concordia, KS 66901 is in charge of arrangements.