Obituary of Ruth Glenn

Ruth Evelyn Glenn was the seventh of eight children born to the late William and Kate Dillard on March 8, 1928 in Greensboro, North Carolina.  

Ruth was raised and educated in Greensboro, North Carolina- graduating from Dudley High School in 1945. At that time, high school was completed at the 11th grade. After graduating high school, Ruth attended Maco Beauty College and became a certified cosmetologist. Ruth worked as a certified cosmetologist during her remaining years in Greensboro.

While living in Greensboro, Ruth was a faithful member of St. Mathews United Methodist Church and sang in the Junior Choir. It was on the back steps of St. Mathews Church where Ruth was introduced to her future husband, James Hix Glenn.  He had recently moved to Greensboro to start a new life. After meeting Ruth, James enlisted in the United States Army while Ruth remained in Greensboro. They remained in contact with each other by writing letters. During his first furlough, James returned to Greensboro to ask Ruth for her hand in marriage. He and Ruth wed on March 25, 1946.

After being released from Service, James attended A & T State College, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering. In 1953, he accepted a position at the Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He and Ruth then moved from Greensboro, North Carolina and settled in Camden, New Jersey where Ruth remained until her passing. 

After moving to New Jersey, Ruth continued to work at home as a cosmetologist while babysitting neighborhood children, maintaining a clean home, and raising five children: Bernadette, James II, Keith, Tina, and Evelyn. Ruth loved to cook and made sure that dinner was prepared everyday by 4:00 pm and that her family always set down and ate together.

While raising their family, Ruth and James became faithful members of Parkside United Methodist Church. Ruth’s ministries included singing in the choir, ushering and visiting the sick and shut-in. When she was not carrying out her ministry, she enjoyed bowling with neighbors and using her self-taught artistic talents to create drawings and sketches. 

She was known in the neighborhood to be a great story teller and loved telling stories about her childhood to the neighborhood children, family, and friends. She also didn’t mind sharing home remedies that she learned while growing up in the South- like using onion juice to cure ear aches. 

She was a strong woman surviving a stroke, cancer, and diabetes, and fighting hard against dementia until she peacefully passed on June 9, 2017. 

Ruth is preceded in death by her husband James Glenn; her eldest child, Bernadette Nevels; and her grandson, Vaughn Nevels. She leaves to cherish her memory four children: James Glenn II (Diane), Keith Glenn (friend Linda Downard), Tina Glenn, and Evelyn Glenn; five grandchildren: Sidney Nevels, Kobie Glenn (Oliva), Paris Glenn (Fiancée James), and Imir Massey (Ashley); eight great grandchildren, Ronin Nevels, Amaris Glenn, Noah Glenn, Zenobia Glenn, Barrington Glenn, Ashton Massey, Arianna Massey, Alaina Massey.