Ruby Vick Viverette

Ruby Vick Viverette, of 1525 Greys Mill Road, Rocky Mount, NC passed away after a long illness in the early morning hours of Thursday, February 5, 2015 at UNC Nash General Hospital in Rocky Mount, NC while being watched over by a special friend of the family, Ann Griffin of Rocky Mount, NC. She had most recently been visited by her closest friends, Jackie Baughan, Joyce and Robbie Bennett, John and Barbara Wells, Linda Rice, and Serita and Glenn Philips. Ruby was born on December 15, 1938 in Tarboro, NC. She was the daughter of the late Woodrow Wilson Vick and Lossie Boykin Vick Peace. She was preceded in death by her parents and by a brother, Charles W. Vick of Miami, FL. Ruby graduated from Tarboro High School in 1957. Ruby was a cheerleader for the Tarboro Vikings sports program during her days in high school. Ruby was Miss Tarboro in 1954. Ruby was a dance instructor for Fred Astaire Studios after high school. She loved going to the beach at Morehead City, swimming and water skiing during the day, and shagging at night with all of the old beach crowd, most of whom are now members of the National and Atlantic Beach Shaggers Hall of Fame. Ruby was a member of the first class of inductees in to the Atlantic Beach Shaggers Hall of Fame on February 20, 1999. Ruby received the Spirit of The Dance Award from the Atlantic Beach Shaggers on February 25, 2011. Ruby married James V. Viverette on September 24, 1961. She followed Jim, who made a career as an officer in the US Army, all over the world during their 25 years of military service. She has lived all over the world like Georgia, where her children were born, and in North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Germany. She loved being a loving wife and mother she also enjoyed cooking, painting, gardening, and especially fishing and wished that Jim would never retire. She loved to travel with her children all over Europe. Especially, with her daughter Angela, following her son all around Germany when he was an all-star baseball player for the US Army's V Corps. Ruby is survived by her husband of 53 years, James V. Viverette; her daughter, Angela V. Baker of Chesapeake, VA and her son, J. Vance Viverette, II of Rocky Mount, NC. She is survived by a half-brother, Robert E. "Bobby" Peace of Louisburg, NC. Ruby is survived by a very special niece, Robin V. Bryant and her husband, J.T. Bryant of Enfield, NC. She had many nieces and nephews, who were not really her nieces or nephews, but they referred to her as "Aunt Ruby". She is survived by many special friends and relatives. In lieu of flowers, Ruby preferred to have memorials made to the Wounded Warriors Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675. A visitation will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2015 from 6:30pm until 8:00pm at Wheeler and Woodlief Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. A funeral and burial will be held at a future date at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, DC, where she will wait peacefully and visit friends until the time Jim joins her after his death and he will be buried above her in the same gravesite. He has promised her that they will go fishing when he arrives. Arrangements are entrusted to Wheeler and Woodlief Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount, NC 27804. Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, VA 22211