Obituary: Thelma Ruth Aycock

By Observer Staff
| 5:46 p.m. September 17, 2014

West Orange Times & Observer
News

The community lost a true gem but heaven gained an angel. Thelma Ruth Aycock, aka “Dr. Ruth,” passed away Sunday morning, Sept. 14, 2014, at home with Hospice and her family.

She was born Nov. 27, 1930, in Coffee County, Ala., to Birdie Lee Merritt Reeves and Collie Reeves. She relocated with her husband Richard “Buck” Aycock and their four small children in 1951, to Ocoee, Fla.

Ruth worked in pharmacies her entire adult life, working for Pound’s Pharmacy, Webb’s Pharmacy, Ocoee Apothecary and, more recently, The Medicine Shoppe in Winter Garden. She also served on the Police Advisory Board in Ocoee for many years.

She had a caring and compassionate heart that won her many friends. Through the years, she often helped people who couldn’t afford their medicine by paying for it herself and even delivering it to them.

Due to a strong Christian faith, she was able to witness and influence many lives. She was a charter member of Starke Lake Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday School classes and also sang in the choir. She was a pillar of the community and the matriarch of our family.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Richard “Buck” Aycock; an infant son; her parents, Collie and Birdie Lee Reeves; sister, Polly Ann Reeves; brothers, Roland Reeves, Jimmy Reeves and Buford Reeves and his wife, Jeanette; and her grandsons, Ronald Christopher Aycock and Jonathan Richard Aycock.

She is survived by her sisters, Mattie Francis Harrison and Marjorie Joyce (Carl) Ingalls; her children, Brenda (Bill) Redding, Jean (Frank) Lovejoy, Ronnie (Jenny Jo) Aycock and Donnie (Jane) Aycock; 10 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Mildred Aycock; brother-in-law, Roy Aycock and his wife, Nancy; and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins.

Ruth always had a smile on her face and a wonderful sense of humor. She could make you smile and see the positive side of things. She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of the Comforter, 605 Montgomery Road, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, or Hospiceofthecomforter.org; or Starke Lake Baptist Church, P.O. Box 520, Ocoee, FL 34761.