Ruba Martha Parks Allen

Ruba Martha Parks Allen, 96, a lifetime resident of Cleveland, passed away on Sunday, July 19, 2015 at the Hospice Care Center in Chattanooga. She had been a resident at Brookdale Assisted Living for the last five years. She was a 1936 graduate of Bradley Central High School and she also graduated from Edmondson Business College in Chattanooga. Shortly after graduating, she and her officemates at the Cleveland Silk Mill traveled to New York City to see several landmarks including Radio City Music Hall, Coney Island and the Empire State Building. Over the years she enjoyed retelling her New York adventures. She worked in the office of several other businesses, but she retired from the personnel department of the U.S. Forest Service office in Cleveland when she was 62. She and her husband enjoyed vacationing in the Smoky Mountains and along the Blue Ridge Parkway, among other southeastern U.S. destinations. Ruba was a member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees and she and her husband, Carl (who was an avid antique car collector/restorer), were active members of the Cherokee Valley Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America. She was also the oldest living member of Pine Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church where she attended from childhood. Ruba often sang duets at church with her late twin sister, Reba, and in later years with her niece, Anna Lue Brown Miller. She was a highly motivated, loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She will be greatly missed by family and friends who loved her. Ruba was the daughter of the late Millard Herbert Parks and Daisy Ann McSpadden Parks. She was also preceded in death by her beloved husband of 50 years, Carl Lee Allen who passed away in 1993; her twin sister, Reba Parks McGuire and brother-in-law, Quince McGuire; sister, Amy Parks Brown and brother-in-law, Paul Brown; brother, Lawrence Parks and sister-in-law, Mamie; brother-in-law, Howard Allen; nephew, Larry McGuire; niece, Linda Parks McGuire; and son-in-law, Jack Kidwell, Sr. Survivors include her daughters, Martha Lee Allen Billings Kidwell and Barbara Jean Allen, both of Cleveland; sons, James Carl Allen of Knoxville and Alvin Neil Allen of Cleveland; grandchildren, Tera Billings Witcher and husband, Russ of Cookeville and Melissa Billings Torbett and husband, Sean of Cohutta, GA; great grandchildren, Jackson Witcher, and Nathan and Megan Torbett; brother-in-law, Dr. Billy J. Allen and wife, Mary Virginia Pearson Allen of Ooltewah; nieces, Anna Lue Brown Miller and husband, Dale of McDonald, Debbie Allen Scarbrough and husband, Kenny of Birmingham, AL and Dr. Diane Allen Shuck and husband, Dr. Edwin Shuck of Signal Mountain; and nephews, Cecil Wayne Allen and wife, Connie of Apison, J. P. Brown and wife, Martha, Dennis Brown and wife, Barbara and Michael Parks and wife, Hope. The funeral will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, 2015 in the chapel of Fike-Randolph & Son Funeral Home with Pastor Russ Maroon officiating. Interment will follow in Laurel Hill-Lebanon Cemetery. Her family will receive friends from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on Wednesday at the funeral home and one hour prior to the service on Thursday. The family request that memorials be made to Pine Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 117 Mapleton Court NW, Cleveland TN, 37312 or Laurel Hill-Lebanon Cemetery, 2552 Old Alabama Rd, McDonald TN, 37353. Her family would like to express their gratitude to the caring staff of Brookdale Assisted Living of Cleveland and to the staff of Hospice Care Center for giving comfort during the last days of Ruba's life. We invite you to send a message of condolence and view the Allen family guestbook at www.fikefh.com.