Centre Associate of the Year 1995
RUBY MOSS CHEEK
The late Ruby Moss Cheek, lifelong Danville resident, member of the faculty and friend of the College, graduated from Centre in 1929. She married the Honorable Samuel Robertson Cheek, Jr., a Centre graduate of the class of 1920. Together Ruby and Sam became Centre institutions.
Ruby taught music at Centre for nearly 40 years, investing her energy to the fullest extent in Centre and the advancement of its best interests. As an accomplished musician and teacher, she inspired the love of music and the joy of learning in generations of Centre College students and Danville community residents. Through her leadership role in the Danville-Centre College Artist Series (a prelude to the Norton Center for the Arts Series), she left a lasting impression on the cultural environment of the Danville community.
Words such as meticulous, dedicated, and demanding are balanced by sweet, gentle, and dignified. A close friend once described her as “a woman with a backbone of steel.” A beloved colleague said she was “extraordinary in so many ways,” referring to her as an “iron butterfly.”
Ruby Cheek’s life typifies the Centre experience. She lived a blend of education and culture, compassion and wisdom, community responsibility and private devotion. For her uncommon commitment to the well-being of Centre College for nearly 70 years, we posthumously recognize Ruby Moss Cheek as Centre Associate of the Year for 1995.
