Mother Ruby Muhammad 1897-2011
Loki
As a centenarian, she kept up with news about her multigenerational
family through a more modern wireless device – a cell phone.
"I always thought living this long was a gift that God gave me," she
told The Bee in a 2010 interview.
Mother Ruby, who used the name given to her after she joined the
Nation of Islam, died Wednesday of lung cancer, said her daughter
Ahminah Muhammad.
Her family said she was 113 years old, although she had no birth
certificate, and a family Bible that recorded her birth was given away
when she was young. In news stories, Mother Ruby said she was born
March 20, 1897.
Her age is disputed by the UCLA-based Gerontology Research Group, a
recognized authority on verifying centenarian claims. According to
GRG, researchers believe they found her identified at age 3 in the
1910 census, indicating that she was likely born in 1907.
Regardless of her age, Mother Ruby was a sharp and vivacious
centenarian who never slowed down. She enjoyed gardening and cooking
her own meals in her south Sacramento apartment. She sang gospel and
told stories about her life at public appearances. She wrote poetry
that she self-published and sold.
She ate one meal a day, avoided processed foods and did not smoke or
drink. She took herbs, multivitamins and a baby aspirin tablet daily.
She exercised her arms and legs with hand weights that she kept under
her bed.
"I turn on my jazz music and I work out, baby," she said last year.
Born on a farm in Sandersville, Ga., Ruby Macie Grayer never knew her
mother and met her father only once. Reared by an aunt, she spent her
early years picking crops and working as a domestic.
She married John Pittman, had four children and moved from Atlanta to
St. Paul, Minn. After her husband died, she moved to San Francisco in
1967 and married James Hyder, who also predeceased her. She relocated
to Sacramento to be near her daughters in 1988 and was predeceased by
a son, Robert.
She joined the Nation of Islam in 1946. She was named "Mother of the
Nation of Islam" in 1986 by minister Louis Farrakhan, who hosted a
birthday celebration for her in 2005 in Chicago.
A gifted storyteller, Mother Ruby recalled the sinking of the Titanic,
two world wars, the Great Depression, the end of apartheid and other
historic events in vivid detail. She described changes in
transportation, from mule-drawn buggies she rode as a child to jet
planes that took her to vacation spots and speaking engagements.
Besides a cell phone, she used a computer and e-mail. She counted 430
friends on Facebook, and she shared her faith with Nation of Islam
followers at her website, http://rubymuhammad.com.
"She remembered when there were no telephones or TV," friend Diana
Muhammad said. "She embraced new technology."