Ruth Austin

Posted: Thursday, January 27, 2011 12:13 pm

The Messenger, January 27, 2011
Ruth Inez (Wiley) Austin, 89, of South Fulton died 1:25 a.m. Jan. 26, 2011, at Union City Manor Nursing Home.
Graveside services will be 11 a.m. Friday at Obion County Memorial Gardens, with the Rev. Jim Calhoun officiating.
Friends may call at Hornbeak Funeral Home in Fulton 5-8 p.m. today and from 8 a.m. until time to go to the cemetery for services Friday.
The family requests that memorials be made to Shriners Hospital, 2001 South Lindberg Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63131.
She was born May 15, 1921, in Fulton County, Ky., daughter of the late Add Browning and Beulah May (Ferguson) Wiley. She was the widow of Thomas Henry “Tommy” Austin, who died Dec. 17, 2005, and was a retired registered cosmetologist. She had owned and operated the former Birdie and Ruth’s Beauty Shoppe in Union City for 15 years with her aunt, the late Birdie Ferguson. She had been an active member of Union City First Baptist Church and later moved to the McConnell community, where she joined McConnell Baptist Church. She later became a member of Broadway Baptist Church and was active there for 28 years. In January 2008, she moved her membership to South Fulton United Methodist Church.
She had received many awards for her dedicated service to her community and South Fulton schools, as well as to the Ken-Tenn Shrine Club.
Survivors include her brother, Al Wiley of Vermillion, Ohio; her half- sister, Mildred Richard of Trussville, Ala.; and several nieces and nephews.
She was also preceded in death by her son, Tommy Alan Austin, who died April 5, 1978, and two brothers and four sisters.
Online tributes may be left at www.hornbeakfuneralchapel.com.