Ruby Eldeana Snell

SNELL — Ruby Eldeana (Holbrook), 90; born Nov. 20, 1926, Mabton, Wash.; died June 30, 2017, Goldendale, Wash. Surviving: husband of almost 68 years, Robert; sons and daughters-in-law, Kenneth and Mary Snell, Goldendale; Dennis and Kathy Snell, Reading, Penn.; daughter and son-in-law, Gayla and David Blackley, Colorado Springs, Colo.; and 5 grandchildren, Karl Snell, Bangkok, Thailand; Jerry Snell, Staunton, Va.; Rachel (and husband Jesse) Knight, Clearwater, Fla.; Ben (and wife Montana) Blackley, Hermitage, Tenn.; Lisa Blackley, Loma Linda, Calif.; and many nieces and nephews.

Ruby passed away peacefully at home with her family on June 30, 2017. She had been a resident of Goldendale for over 30 years.

She was born at home in Mabton, Wash., on Nov. 20, 1926, to Bessie Irene Carman Holbrook and Noah Walter Holbrook. She was the youngest of the seven. Her siblings, Aubrey, Naoma, Irvin, Clement, Floyd and Orville, all pre-deceased her. She loved school and always spoke fondly of the years she spent at Walla Walla College where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in music in 1949. That summer she married Robert Emery Snell in Granger, Wash. They eventually moved back to his home state of Florida where they raised their three children. They also lived in Tennessee, Kansas, Michigan, Colorado and Illinois before moving to Goldendale to be near her brother Orville, who owned OK Realty.

Ruby spent many years as a piano teacher and greatly enjoyed reading as well as sewing, gardening and genealogy. She was a lifelong member of the Seventh-day Adventist church and helped develop the library of the Goldendale Adventist Church.

Ruby spent her life putting her family before herself. Her last thoughts were to say goodbye to her family and to go to her rest knowing that she would soon see Jesus come.