On May 9th, 1957, in Richlands, North Carolina, Heaven blessed Matthew and Rose Ann Ruffin with a beautiful baby boy, Joseph Kinsey Ruffin, affectionately referred to as Joe Boy, making him the fifth of six siblings.

He graduated from Richlands High School in 1975 and attended college in Richlands, as well. Joe's next major milestone was enlisting in the United States Army with the 82nd Airborne Division and being honorably discharged. He attended Tulsa Jr. College and was an extremely dedicated truck driver for a tenure of over 40 years, with Estes being his last place of employment from 2011 to 2019. During Joe's trucking days, he became good friends with several fellow truckers, and our Joe, being the very personable, fun-loving guy that he was, decided to form a truckers club, which he named the "KLONDIKE CREW"—reason being, the Klondike bar just so happened to be his favorite ice cream bar. They, in turn, deemed Joe as the C.E.O.

Joe accepted Christ at an early age, and 14 years later, he and his devoted wife, Elizabeth, rededicated their lives to Christ at World Won for Christ Ministries, under the pastorate of Bishop Melvin F. Cooper. There, he faithfully served as an usher until his health failed. Joe loved his family, friends, dominoes, antique car shows, sports, and working in his yard, and he was a jack of all trades. Lastly, he so adored gathering all of his grands and carting them off to Waffle House on weekends for a day loaded with merriment.

Those preceding him in death are his parents, father- and mother-in-law, Sam and Mary Zachery, brother, Charlie Ruffin and brother David Ruffin Ellis.

Those left to embellish precious memories are his beautiful wife of 25 blessed years, Elizabeth Zachery Rufffin; four children, Mary, Elliot, and Kensey, all of Tulsa, and John of Russellville, Arkansas; ten grandchildren and five great-grands, with number six coming in March; three sisters, all of North Carolina, Betty (Ulysses) Frier, Linda Giles, and Carolyn (Mark) Taylor; one brother, Timothy (Shannon) Ruffin of Muskogee, Oklahoma; one brother, Mathew Ruffin Jr. of North Carolina; one sister, Mary Brown Sister of North Carolina; a brother Freddie Ruffin Ellis of New Jersey; one uncle, George Bennett of Clinton, Oklahoma; three sisters-in-law, Ruth Woodfork, Naomi (Miguel) Bautista, and Esther (Dale) Wright; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends; and his "look-alike", Wendell Armstrong.

We will surely miss the vibrant, handsome, outgoing, sharp-dressing, loving Joe, but our loss is truly good times we will never forget. And a special thanks to Joe Estes and Season's Hospice.

Memorial Services for Mr. Joseph Ruffin are currently scheduled on Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 11:00 A.M. at World Won For Christ Ministries at 2121 N. Harvard Avenue in Tulsa, and Bishop Melvin F. Cooper is the gracious host pastor.