of McKinney, TX
November 11, 1924 - December 23, 2023
Ruby Mae Bishop Langley passed away on December 23, 2023, in McKinney, Texas. She was born in 1924 in the old family home in Everton, Arkansas. At an early age, she and the family moved to nearby Harrison, where jobs were more plentiful and life a little easier. She attended Harrison High School, worked in the local movie theater, and developed many life-long friends. She remembers rationing sugar, gasoline, and tires during the early war years, even while attending the University of Arkansas.
After the war, she became a flight attendant for American Airlines working on DC-3s, based in Dallas and New York. She was one of the first accepted into that position without a nursing degree. She returned to Harrison after two years and was introduced by family friends to James A. (Jim) Langley, whom she would marry later in 1948. It was not a true blind date, though, as Jim had been her ninth-grade algebra teacher nine years earlier while he was also coaching basketball at Harrison High. They moved to Jonesboro where they had one son, James.
Following a move to Russellville in 1963, Ruby continued her education, earning a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Arkansas Tech University, and later a master's degree in speech pathology from the University of Central Arkansas. She worked for many years in the Russellville Public Schools.
In 2001 she and Jim moved to Sugar Land, Texas to be closer to family. Despite living in Texas for 22 years, she has remained a loyal Razorback fan, a die-hard Democrat, and a champion for all things Arkansas.
She was preceded in death by her parents, E.D. and Euna Mae Vinson Bishop; her brothers, Ralph Leon, and Duane Bishop; her husband of 55 years, Jim Langley; and close friend, Sisty Davis of Jonesboro. She is survived by her son, James, and his wife Anna of McKinney, their children and her grandchildren, Jeff Langley and his wife Nicole, Kathryn Langley Spartz and her husband Chris; three great-grandchildren; her sister-in-law, Doris Bishop and her family; and a few close friends and cousins from the Russellville and Harrison days.
A visitation and gathering of friends and family was held at Roller Christeson Funeral Home in Harrison on Wednesday morning, January 3, 2024.