Ruby Lee Nelson

“It is with a shout of joy and a grateful heart that I say, I am not gone, I’m just taking a peaceful rest, and I’ll see each of you again at that big resurrection in the sky. I’ve had a beautiful life living holy, and God gave me my three scores and ten plus eleven more years. For I knew that if this old earthly body gave out, then I had a building from God, eternal in the heavens, not made by man’s hands. I have overcome the world because my faith did not stand in the wisdom of man but in the power of God. 

All of God’s beautiful creations have purpose and meaning. Ruby Lee Nelson’s purpose in life began on August 24, 1944, in Swainsboro, Georgia, when our Creator gave this amazing angel to the family of John Henry Jackson and Louise Turner. She was educated in the public school system of Emanuel County and attended Swainsboro High School in Swainsboro, GA. Her meaning in life began when Ruby L. Nelson accepted Christ as her personal Savior at an early age and was united with Johnson Temple First Born Church in Brunswick, GA, where she served as a Deaconess. It is through her life as a servant for God that she taught others about the goodness of God.

Ruby L. Jackson was united in holy matrimony with MacArthur Nelson on February 5, 1963, in Brunswick, GA. Their union was blessed with six children: Damon L. Jackson, Patricia Ann Tapley, MacArthur Nelson, Cynthia D. Young, Henry L. Nelson, and Sandy L. Habersham.

Family and demonstrating her love for others described who she was as a person. She enjoyed cooking, sewing, and singing in the church with her favorite instrument, the “Scrub Board.” She took the time to take care of others that needed her. Ruby Lee Nelson departed this life on January 8, 2026. She was preceded in death by her parents, John Henry and Louise Jackson; husband, MacArthur Nelson; brothers, Willie Jackson and John H. Jackson; and firstborn grandson, Daryl K. Jones.

She leaves to cherish her memories and continue her legacy: her daughters, Patricia A. Tapley, Cynthia D. (Pernell) Young, and Sandy Habersham; sons, MacArthur (Angela) Nelson of Fayetteville, NC, and Henry (Janice) Nelson of Goldsboro, NC; sister, Queen McKenzie of Miami, FL; sisters-in-law, Virginia Massey of Jacksonville, FL, and Candace Jackson of Miami, FL; grandchildren, great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and her church family.