Obituary: Ruby Edna Massengill Patterson Hunt

Ruby Edna Massengill Patterson Hunt, a longtime Anderson county educator, passed away Thursday, May 1, at Methodist Medical Center and entered into God’s heavenly kingdom.

Mrs. Hunt was born on the top of Windrock Mountain in Anderson County. She was a graduate of Oliver Springs High School in the class of 1943 and served as treasurer of her senior class. She was also a proud graduate of the University Of Tennessee.

She started her teaching career in Fork Mountain, Tenn., when she was 17. She also served as principal at the school. Following her marriage and birth of her two sons, Mrs. Hunt resumed her teaching career as a first grade teacher at Norwood Elementary School in Oliver Springs. Her teaching career spanned over 40 years, and all her students loved her.

Mrs. Hunt loved her community in Oliver Springs, and she was a longtime member of the Oliver Springs First Baptist Church. She also served on the town’s planning commission and was a member of the Oliver Springs Historical Society. She loved to work in her yard planting flowers and talking to her neighbors.

Another of her hobbies was travel and she travelled throughout England, France, and Italy with family and friends. She loved to vacation in Florida with her family each summer, spending a great deal of time on Jacksonville and Daytona beaches.

She was a member of the Anderson County Teachers Association and the Anderson County Retired Teachers Association. She was a longtime member of the Oliver Springs Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, where she served as worthy matron.

Mrs. Hunt was preceded in death by her father George W. Massengill and mother Nancy Flora Massengill, one brother George W. Massengill Jr., a sister Reba Louise Strickland, her husband Rudolph G. Patterson, her second husband Gentry D. Hunt, and a grandson Jonathan Gary Patterson.

She is survived by her son Rudolph Gary Patterson, a longtime educator in the Roane County School System and a teacher at Oliver Springs High School, Michael George Patterson, the director of ETHRA Public Transit, and Sandy Patterson; grandchildren Brandon Patterson, Shea Patterson Watts, Jaron Patterson, and Gustin Shelby, great-grand children Jaydon Patterson, Isaac McPeters, and Claudia Sydney Watts; a surviving sister Rema Ann Weeks; two nieces, Nancy Taylor, and Connie Thomson; and great-nieces and nephews Shane and Tonya Thomson, Amber Taylor, Tiffany Taylor, and Jonathan Taylor; as well as several special friends and extended family Claudia M. Patterson, Connie Loy, Judy Lease, and Lisa Lease.

The family received friends Monday, May 5, at Sharp Funeral Home in Oliver Springs. The service immediately followed the visitation with Pastors Larry Duke and Barry Ariaz officiating. The internment was held Tuesday, May 6, at 11 a.m. at the Oliver Springs Cemetery.

Sharp Funeral Home is serving the Hunt family, and an online guest book is available at www.sharpfh.com.