Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 23, 1992 TAG: 9201240132
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES NORTH CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BOLDENS HONOR AN ANCESTOR
Some of the world's greatest civilizations attribute their strength to the tradition of honoring ancestors. On her birth date, the late Ruby J. Bolden's children, relatives and friends honored her.In a memorial service on Jan. 10 at the Harrison Museum of African American Culture, siblings Millard and Willard Bolden and Marie Bolden-Trent celebrated the memory of their mother, who died in 1984, and bestowed funds from a non-profit organization established in her name. Another brother, Charles A. Bolden, is in the U.S. Army in Korea and did not attend.
"In a simple way, everyone knew Ruby Jane," said Willard Bolden, a United States Navy lieutenant commander and chaplain, who led the ceremony.
"We are here today to reflect on her life in the hope that she will continue to touch the lives of those who were around her," he said.
Some of those whose lives were affected by Bolden paid tribute to her through two a cappella gospel solos, a poem and a lot of kind words.
Then, came the tangible portion of her legacy: endowments from the Ruby J. Bolden Foundation, established by the Bolden family on Jan. 15, 1991.
According to its charter, the foundation's purpose is "to encourage spirituality and fellowship within the community; to financially assist individuals and groups whose purpose is to aid people in need; to promote educational opportunities among our youth and to provide a mental role among minority students."
Funds are raised through private donations and recipients are selected by the immediate family and recorded in the foundation's records as "Ruby's Rubies."
To give or apply to receive a donation, contact Marie Bolden-Trent, 1524 Wellsley St., Roanoke, Va. 24017.
Museum curator Jamila Coleman, accepting a $500 contribution on behalf of the museum, said: "It is wonderful to see the children and relatives keeping alive an ancestor. This is not only an ancestor of the immediate family, but of us all. I am very proud."
The museum was also an award recipient in 1991. Last year's donation was used to buy a black-and-gold bound "Reference Library of Black America" series for its reading room. Coleman displayed one of the five volumes, which she said would be labeled "from the Ruby J. Bolden Foundation." The use of this year's gift has not yet been decided, she said.
The other 1992 recipients are Virginia Union University, to continue its theological training, and the Ruby Bolden Less-Fortunate Fund at First Baptist Church on Jefferson St., which helps community residents with emergency survival needs such as rent, utilities or food.
"My mother was a maid here when the Harrison was a school," Willard Bolden said.
The single parent also was an elevator operator at the Medical Arts Center, a secretary at the Roanoke Tribune during the early 1960s, a secretary at Southern Aid Insurance Co. during the later 1960s and a work-experience program counselor for Total Action Against Poverty from the 1970s through the mid-1980s.
"I think about that and how I have gone from those days, living at Lincoln Terrace, to traveling around the world. That doesn't just happen. It takes parents and people behind you," Willard Bolden said.
He challenged families to take charge of youth and teach them right from wrong.
Citing massive layoffs, a failing economy and statistics that predict the black male could be almost extinct by 2000, he said the outlook seems dim. But Bolden said he has faith that stronger ties within both immediate and extended families can at least partly cure those problems.
Bolden said he was proud that his ancestor had helped make the world a better place because she passed this way.
Memo: CORRECTION