Ruth Hatten

Mrs. Ruth Wood Jones-Hatten, 95, of Inkster, Michigan, passed away on Tuesday, February 28, 2017, at Advantage Living Center, Wayne, Michigan. She was born on June 6, 1921, in Greenville, South Carolina, to the late Waver and Bertha Wood.

At an early age Ruth joined Lowndes Hill Baptist Church in which she was a member before relocating to Inkster, Michigan, where she fellowshipped with the Beulah Baptist Church in Westland, Michigan until her health declined. Ruth participated in various activities and auxiliaries.

Ruth attended the Lowndes Hill Elementary School, graduated from Sterling High School with a license in cosmetology and furthered her education in Detroit. She was ambitious and didn’t mind working hard to achieve her goals. Ruth was one of a few women entrepreneurs in the 1950s and owned her own beauty salon. She was employed at General Motors in Detroit for many years and eventually retired from GM.

Ruth was preceded in death by her husbands, Thomas Jones, Sr., and Henry Hatten; son, Thomas Jones, Jr.; brothers, Roscoe and Myron Wood; sister, Rosemary Wood Durham. Every year she prepared Christmas dinner for the family at her home in Inkster. She enjoyed cooking and relished cooking for a large group. Her summer vacations were spent in Greenville with her siblings and other family members.

Ruth will be missed by those who shared the joys of life with her, her sense of humor, her straightforwardness and her love of life. Fond memories will be cherished by her son, Roscoe (Georgia) Jones, of Inkster; sisters, Mildred Barksdale and Eleanor (Willie) Dawson of Greenville; and daughter-in-law, Annie Jones of Paducah, Kentucky. Ruth had four grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews in Greenville and Detroit.