The family of a popular Fife woman who died at home after contracting Covid-19 will gather for her funeral today.
Ruby Gillespie, 85, a much-loved mum and gran , described as “a tough cookie who loved life”, was originally from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland but had called Kirkcaldy her home for the last 64 years.
Immediate family members will gather to pay their respects at a service later today (Wednesday), but her relatives say they plan to hold a memorial service at a later date to give Ruby the send off she deserves.
Ruby, who has battled underlying health issues in recent years, died suddenly but peacefully at home on Tuesday last week.
Her grand-daughter Kimmy Summers said: “She was a great family woman, strong willed and an independent tough cookie with the best sense of humour that loved life.”
She said her grandmother was a “once met never forgotten” character, who would be remembered for her genuine affection, her great wit and strong Irish accent, and her smile.
“Ruby did her best and has left us with a lot of good and happy memories, certainly in these last few years,” she said.
“We hope and pray she’s with Billy, the love of her life, and her late daughters Margo and Caroline and late grandson Scott, and they are all looking after each other once more.”
The eldest of a family of seven, Ruby often reminded people of her early days at the dance hall across the road from her house in N Ireland and how she worked at the local cotton factory at the age of 14.
Married at 21 to Ronald Gillespie, she moved to Huddersfield and later to Kirkcaldy, spending the last 28 years in the Redcraigs area.
She had four children – Margo, Iris, Caroline and Ronnie – and introduced them to the idea of earning a wage by taking them to the potato and berry farms from a young age.
Next came her grand children, Steven, the late Scott, Kimmy, Jordan, Jade and Callum.
Kimmy said her grandmother used to enjoy six-week holidays to County Donegal and had left a wealth of memories, including “her love of smoking, getting her hair done every Saturday at Hairdrome Hairdressers on Kirkcaldy High Street, always looking her best and then telling you that was her ready ‘for her box’”.
“She had one of a kind sense of humour,” she added.
“Often humour carried us through tough times, and we know that she’d want her funeral to be upbeat, a happy celebration of her life and for no-one to be mourning over her for too long.
“She has been an inspiration to the family, she still lived a full and eventful life, never asked for a lot for herself in life.
“We are proud of her for being the amazing character she was.
“She’d probably be sat saying to behave yourselves from now on and to always smile when her name crosses your lips.”
