Wilkin Phillips Ruffin

February 27, 1924 – August 18, 2019

Wilkin Phillips Ruffin, 95, of Bainbridge, GA, passed away Sunday, August 18, 2019.

The funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 20, 2019 at Ivey Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Phil Maxwell officiating. Interment will follow at Roselawn Memory Gardens with Jerry Henry, Jim Beck, Johnny Skipper, Wendell Nix, Jr., Roger Edmunds and Gene Dunlap serving as active pallbearers.

The family will receive friends immediately following the service. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.iveyfuneral.com. Memorial donations may be made to the Georgia Baptist Children’s Home, 505 Water Works Road, Palmetto, GA 30268 or Developmental Disabilities Ministries, 6320 Amherst Court, Norcross, GA 30092.

Wilkin Jeanette Phillips was born February 27, 1924 in Madrid, Alabama, the daughter of Smiley and Florence Elizabeth Yates Phillips. Wilkin has resided in Bainbridge all of her life.   She graduated from West Bainbridge High School. Later, she graduated from Bainbridge Junior College with an associate degree in Arts. Wilkin married the love of her life, Edward Ruffin, Sr. in 1941. She retired from the Department of Vocational Rehab.

Wilkin was a lifetime member of First Baptist Church. Before her illness, every time the church doors were open, you could find her sitting in her favorite spot listening to the word of God. Wilkin put her family first. She made sure everyone had what they needed before her own needs. Wilkin loved the great outdoors. She would get her hands dirty sprucing up the yard with her favorite flowers. Wilkin liked to vacation in the mountains and sometimes you could even catch her on a pair of water skis down on the Flint River.

Survivors include her children, Edward Wood Ruffin, Jr. (Chip), and his wife, Rhonda, of Macon, GA and Alice Johnson, and her husband, Lawton, of Brunswick, GA; her sisters Sarah Krom and Jeanne Ohlinger, and her husband, RC White, all of Bainbridge; her grandchildren, Lawton Johnson, Jr. of Jacksonville, FL, Leigh Anne Johnson of Savannah, GA, Jennifer Ruffin of Macon, GA and Edward Ruffin, III, of Athens, GA; and her great-granddaughter, Savannah Leigh Johnson of Jacksonville, FL. In addition to her parents, Wilkin was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Wood Ruffin, Sr.; and her siblings, Hilda Maxwell, Clinton Phillips, and Sallie Yates Smith.

The Ruffin family would like to offer their sincere thanks to Keith Trawick, Integrity Hospice and the many caregivers for their help is taking care of Mrs. Ruffin.

One Comment on “Wilkin Phillips Ruffin”

  1. Chip and Family,
    I am so sorry to hear of your mothers passing. Know that she was loved by so many people, by the Lord that she served and by her family. I wish you peace and comfort during these hard times and the days and weeks to come.
    With our Deepest Respect and Sympathies,
    The Sanders Family

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