Asheville resident Ruby Rice Jones faced hardship and adversity under oppressive Jim Crow laws. She turned her trials into triumphs.

Born September 15, 1926, in Asheville, North Carolina, Ms. Jones spent her life in the service of others.

Mrs. Jones served in several leadership positions within the Asheville community: deaconess, trustee, chairlady of Young People Willing Workers, president of the Christian Women’s Council, and the District Financial Secretary to three school superintendents.

She was also a singer, a Class of 1945 Stephens-Lee alumna, a member of the Church of God in Christ, and the last active member of the founding members of the Asheville District.

Mrs. Jones volunteered every week for 68 years at the Charles George VA Medical Center accumulating 7,882 hours of service to hospitalized veterans. She was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by the Governor of North Carolina in 2017.

In the audio clip above, Ms. Jones recalls growing up in Asheville under the harsh Jim Crow Laws of the South.