Bobby Ring

Our mom had a severe heart condition and COPD and she endured these health issues with fortitude and grace. But Dementia proved to be the health problem she could not beat. On May 29, 2021 Bobby Dean Ervin Ring passed away at Chandler House in Yakima with her eldest son, Ed, at her side. Mom was born in Tellico Plains, Tennessee in 1931 and at the age of 5, migrated with her family to Wapato, Washington. In the summer of 1943, Mom narrowly survived a drowning when the raft she was on overturned at the Wapato gravel pits and took the lives of her older sister and younger brother. Mom was saved by her 6-year-old sister, Lee, who found a long stick that Mom was able to grab onto. When Mom was a sophomore in high school, she lost her own mother and stepped into the role of caretaker for her 3 younger siblings. Her mother would have been very proud of her. The following year, she met her future husband, Harold Ring. Mom’s best friend, Joanne, was dating Dad's best friend Pete, and they were introduced on a blind double date in 1947. In 1948, Mom and Dad drove to Idaho, found a couple of witnesses and were married. They were married 59 years. They made their home in Toppenish, where they raised four kids. She was a wonderful mother, often working two jobs, but always making time to bake every day: donuts, cookies, pies, and she made her own bread and ice cream. She made jelly with grapes from her backyard and jam with apricots from her tree. She had a knack for making any job fun, whether it was field and orchard work, stripping furniture, or painting the house; mom knew how to enjoy life. Mom had a kind soul and worked as a caretaker, and her clients loved her. She also took care of our Dad, who had MS. If Mom knew someone was in need, she made sure to help in any way she could. One time she came home from a yard sale with a little old dog that was headed to the pound because his owner had died. After getting her real estate license in 1975 she started a business with her sister; buying houses, fixing them up, and then selling them, long before the term “flipping houses” was known. Mom was an entrepreneur. She loved books and wrote many volumes of quotes, which if published, would likely fall under the genre of "a curated collection on the meaning of life”; we would tell her she must have been an English Professor in a past life. She wore many hats, but antiquing was her passion. She had an antique shop and along with her siblings, Betty and Roy, would travel all over the Pacific Northwest to antique shows. For over 40 years she was a regular volunteer at the Toppenish food bank and she would bring her grandchildren in the summer to help, instilling the desire for community service in them. Mom was the type of grandma that you could drop in on at any time, no matter how late, she would get out of bed and focus all her attention on you. She loved her grandkids very much and they loved her. You could always count on her having a yummy dessert anytime you stopped by. She was a very special lady to all who knew her. She has been reunited with her husband Harold Ring; mom, Lena Lee Carter Ervin; father, William Ervin; sister Fannie and brother Jimmie Ervin, sisters Betty Frost and Sandy Howell. And we know she is joyful with her friends again, Jean, Sally, Viola, Bonnie, and Ellen. She is survived by her children Edward Ring (Ellen), Lynn Ring, AnnaMarie Sidwell (Ron), Leanne Galaviz (Tony), siblings Lee Wald (Howard), George Lindbloom, Howard Ervin, Roy Ervin, Bill Ervin, Judy Paulsen and Kathy Ostrander. She is also survived by her 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. We will miss her deeply. We are very grateful to the staff at Chandler House and Yakima Memorial Hospice. A private celebration of her life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, we suggest a donation in mom's name to the Toppenish Food Bank, 4 N. B St., Toppenish. Please visit www.ValleyHillsfh.com to share a memory or condolence with the family. "Sweetly sleeps she, pain and suffering burn no longer on her brow. Weary watcher, ye can leave her, she no longer needs you now." To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Bobby Ring, please visit our flower store.