Ruth Leslie Sinclair Love passed away peacefully in Greer, S.C., on Sunday morning, July 6, 2014, and entered her Heavenly home. She was 91.
Ruth was born on February 18, 1923, in York County, S.C., to the late Eliza Ann McCarter Sinclair and Fredrick Evelyn Sinclair.
Ruth was a beautiful woman with lots of spunk. She was a kind, thoughtful and giving person who found many ways to help those less fortunate than herself.
As a result of growing up in the Great Depression, Ruth was a tirelessly hard worker and frugal. She loved life and relished travel and adventures.
Ruth was an accomplished seamstress, particularly of mother-daughter outfits, Easter dresses and doll clothes. Ruth loved nature, animals and the beauty of the outdoors. She had a green thumb and grew many beautiful flowers. Blue and pink hydrangeas were her favorites.
She worked a huge vegetable garden each summer. Her vegetable canning kept her children very busy and her family fed through the winter. Ruth was an excellent cook and made the best angel biscuits, something her children have not been able to duplicate in spite of detailed instruction from Ruth.
Ruth was opinionated, matter-of-fact, no-nonsense and a bit impatient; qualities she clearly passed along to her children. She had a keen sense of humor and often entertained friends and relatives with her insightful wit.
Ruth appreciated music and art and became an artist herself, learning to paint beautiful watercolors late in life. She loved to read, particularly Southern authors. She enjoyed telling the story of bringing home from school, at a young age, “Gone with the Wind” and reading it secretly, under the bed covers, as her mother would never have approved of the novel.
In her 60s, she moved to Tampa to help care for grandsons Matthew and Andrew, who greatly benefited from many loving and instructive hours with their Nana.
At age 76, she joined younger family members in rafting the white water of the Chattooga River.
At age 82, she was excited about a new adventure, moving halfway across the country to Texas with daughter Sally and her husband.
She was still volunteering, going to the gym and swimming six days a week up until 2007.
The family expresses a sincere and heartfelt appreciation to special caregivers, Janie Casarez, LeeAnn Casarez and Courtney White, of Abilene, Texas, and to Dot Brown and Angela Roberts of Greenville, S.C., for loving Ruth and for providing overwhelming care, compassion and devotion to Ruth, and our family for the past seven years; and to Micky Brewer and Misha Kincaid, physical and speech therapists of Abilene, Texas, who helped Ruth in incredible ways attain a high quality of life. Without doubt, God sent each one of these angels to assist in His work.
The family also thanks the kind, capable and compassionate staff of the Azalea Cottage, at The Cottages of Brushy Creek in Greer, S.C., for loving Ruth and providing such wonderful care to her, and support to our family, in the final two years of Ruth’s life.
Ruth is survived by her three children, whom she dearly loved and who dearly loved her: son Keith Sinclair Love and wife Gina Cuff of Woodinville, Wash.; daughter Julia Love Beamguard (Julie) and husband Jim of Rock Hill, S.C.; and daughter Sarah Elizabeth (Sally) Love and husband Bill King of Taylors, S.C. She is also survived by her four grandchildren: Carter Brantley Love of New York City; Anna Elizabeth Love of Bloomington, Ind.; Matthew James Beamguard of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Andrew Keith Beamguard of Apollo Beach, Fla.; younger sister Alice Sinclair McAfee of Clover, S.C.; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, former husband, James Lindsay Love, and five siblings, Reola Sinclair Faris, Virginia Sinclair Shillinglaw, Fredrick Henry Sinclair, George Pressley Sinclair and Ethel Sinclair Beamguard.
Ruth’s desire was for her body to be cremated and her ashes buried at her parents’ graves. However, the desire she talked most about, especially in the last year of her life, was to be reunited with her parents in Heaven. We rejoice that she professed Jesus as her Savior and that she is now reunited with her parents, and other relatives who have gone on before her.
A graveside service celebrating Ruth’s life will be held at Beersheba Presbyterian Church in York County, S.C., on Saturday, July 12th, at 10:30 a.m. with the Reverend Bob Sprinkle officiating.
The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials to honor Ruth be made to the Women or Children’s Ministries at Miracle Hill Ministries, PO Box 2546, Greenville, S.C. 29602 or the Greenville Humane Society, 305 Airport Road, Greenville, S.C. 29607.
