Layton's 'Grandma Ruby,' thought to be Utah's 1st black teacher, dies at 102

Layton's 'Grandma Ruby,' thought to be Utah's 1st black teacher, dies at 102

(Courtesy of Marqueax Price-Black)


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LAYTON — Ruby Jewell Timms Price, a political activist, humanitarian and educator thought to be Utah’s first-ever black teacher, died Saturday at age 102.

Originally from Texas, Price lived in Layton for 73 years, where she was a member of the Layton 4th Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She also started the first NAACP chapter in Utah and was a four-term chairperson of the Davis County Republican Party, according to her obituary.

Reflecting on her mother’s accomplishments, Price’s daughter Marqueax Price-Black compared Ruby Price to the unsung protagonists of the movie “Hidden Figures.”

“I’ve been living in the presence of a hidden figure my whole life,” Price-Black said. “My mother was one of those women of color that, long before the movement, she was her own movement. She was accomplishing things based on her abilities and her love of God and love of people, and she never let anything hold her back.”

As the daughter of a Native American father, Price embraced everyone regardless of their race or background, Price-Black said. Though she herself was a Christian, she told others to practice whatever religion they were a part of to the fullest.

Price, or “Grandma Ruby” as she was known to many in her community, was hired by the Davis County School District in the early 1960s, her daughter said. Before that, she taught at the Intermountain Indian School in Brigham City. She went on to teach for 44 more years.

Price-Black said her mother was drawn to education because she loved young people.

“She loved to teach people that they could do anything they wanted to do,” she said.

Even though being the state’s first black teacher is among a list of several things Price pioneered, Price-Black said her mother didn’t make that a big deal.

“My mother never focused on those firsts,” Price-Black said. “She never looked at definitions that way. She always told us as kids that people are just people, God’s children are God’s children. Where there’s a need, that’s where you go, without regard.”

Price was the state’s first black woman to be awarded the Mother of the Year award in 1977. She served as the Utah NAACP chapter's first president, started a Girl Scouts Troop and worked in Scouting for 60 years.


"She always told us as kids that people are just people, God’s children are God’s children. Where there’s a need, that’s where you go, without regard.” - Marqueax Price-Black

Aside from education, humanitarian work and political activism, Grandma Ruby loved to garden, quilt and do puzzles, Price-Black said.

Price's daughter remembered a Republican Party event in which a man had some “disparaging remarks” to say about Grandma Ruby and her being a woman of color. Price-Black said she was so angry that she wanted to hit the man in the face.

But her mother told her that getting angry would be a waste of time, Price-Black said. Price instructed her daughter to take that energy and channel it in a different direction, which is how she lived her own life, Price-Black said.

“‘Take that feeling and put that into doing what’s right, into making a difference, into changing people’s lives,’” Price-Black remembers her mother saying. “‘Put that into accomplishing the goals that you set out, and you’ll always achieve your goals.’ … I always kept that close to me. She was right about that.”

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