Ruth Kent Underwood

Ruth Kent Underwood left this earth to meet her Lord and Savior on November 23, 2016 after 90 years of a life filled with love of her family, her church, and her schoolchildren.  Sharing vegetables with neighbors, teaching Sunday School, and taking flowers to nearby nursing homes made her happy. She loved reading, gardening, and traveling. No one left her home hungry; cooking and feeding visitors was a rule. For over thirty years she taught kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders to love books and reading. She graduated from Lanier High School in Lakeland, Georgia, in 1944, was awarded her bachelor’s degree from Georgia State College for Women in 1948; and earned her master’s degree from the University of Georgia in 1975. She was elected a Leader of American Elementary Education in 1971 “in recognition of contributions to the advancement of elementary education and service to community.”

She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Lowell Milner Underwood, of Greensboro, Georgia; daughters Gwen Underwood Steele, of Burleson, Texas; Linda Underwood Mosely, of St. Simon’s Island, Georgia; and Joy Underwood Carlson, of Granville, Ohio; grandchildren Taryn Goulding, Todd Barnett, Christopher Carlson, and Nathaniel Carlson; and three great-grandchildren, Kyler and Mandy Goulding and Coral Ann Zyblot Barnett.  She instilled in all of her children and grandchildren a love of reading and learning. She joins an infant son, Kenneth David Underwood, in heaven.

Mrs. Underwood was born in Lakeland, Georgia, the daughter of Johnny Macum Kent and Fannie Harrel Kent.  Her brothers and sisters who survive her include: J.M. Kent, Howard Kent, and Evelyn Beard; she was preceded in death by Annie Mae Register, R.D. Kent, Marjorie Hutchinson, Velma Singletary, Selma Crandall, and Mary Pressley.

A memorial service will be held at a time when family can gather to celebrate her life. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a charity that provides books to children in underserved areas from birth to five years of age