The Ledger

From Staff Reports

COCHRAN-Ruth Evelyn Roberson was born Wednesday, July 8, 1936, and turned 90 this year. On Saturday, July 11, 2026, her family, her church and what seemed like half of Cochran gathered at Traditions to celebrate her.

She wore black lace, a tiara and a sash that read “90 & Fabulous.”

Anybody who knows her will tell you she has earned every word of it.

Roberson was born in Girard, in Burke County, the second oldest of the 10 children of Jessie Mae and Acie Clark. Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church is her home church, and the lessons she learned there are ones she carried throughout her life.

On Sept. 26, 1953, she married the Rev. Wilson C. Roberson. They were together for nearly 59 years, until his death on June 29, 2012.

When he pastored Turner Chapel A.M.E. Church in Cochran, she served as First Lady, taking on the role the way she has done most things in life — fully and without complaint. She sang in the choir, joined the Order of the Eastern Star and the Alpha Ladies, and volunteered wherever the community needed a pair of hands.

She also worked.

Roberson spent more than 20 years at B.C. Moore’s. She trained as a cosmetologist and opened Ruth’s House of Beauty, which eventually became Roberson’s Barbershop.

At some point, it seems almost everyone in town has seen Ruth in some capacity — at church, B.C. Moore’s, the beauty shop or simply in the grocery store. Always smiling. Always offering a warm welcome.

She is the mother of three: Patricia, Alonzo and LaVerne. The grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren have long since passed the point of counting.

And that is before you get to everybody else — the neighbors, church members, young people who came through her shop and those who are not related by blood but call her mother or grandmother anyway.

She never turned that title down.

Cochran has been home all these years. She loves country living. She loves animals. She takes care of people whether they ask or not, and she has never needed a reason.

The family would like to thank everyone who took the time to celebrate with her and show her how much she is loved.

Ninety years. Ten siblings, three children, one husband, one chair and more people than anybody can name who are better off because Ruth Evelyn Roberson decided they were hers.

Photos from the Roberson Family