Ruth Lynn (Baird) Prados passed into eternal life peacefully at her Knoxville home surrounded by family.
She had celebrated her 95th birthday on March 7 and was able to participate in family vacations and activities until a severe decline in her health due to Parkinson’s in her final years.
She is survived by her husband, John Prados, who shared 73 wonderful years of marriage with her. She is also survived by her daughters: Elizabeth (Fred) Bowman, Laura, and Anne (Ashby) Lynch; granddaughter and husband Mary Beth Aguilar and Alfredo Aguilar; granddaughter and husband, Laura Lynch Mace and Tim Mace, and granddaughter, Caroline Prados Burks; and great grandchildren, Virginia Mace, Selina Aguilar, Diego Aguilar, and Frankie Mace.
Mrs. Prados was always her children’s greatest advocate, including those she “adopted” along the way, and she is greatly missed.
Mrs. Prados was born in 1930 in a small, reputedly haunted, antebellum home on Woodson Ridge near Oxford, Miss. She relished sharing spooky tales with her children and grandchildren.
When she was 8, her family moved to a cotton farm near Marks, Miss. (yes, she could and did chop cotton). She became quite mechanically savvy, helping her father rebuild tractors and farm equipment as a young girl.
She had a delightfully mischievous sense of humor that endeared her to those around her to the very end of her life.
In 1948, she graduated from Marks High School after miraculously surviving being hit by a truck while exiting a school bus at age 17. After several months of convalescing, she completed her senior year as valedictorian and class president. She also was voted senior superlative for most expressive face, which was one of her most defining characteristics throughout her life.
After high school, she attended Jones County Junior College in Laurel, Miss., for a year, and then she attended the University of Mississippi and graduated with a degree in chemistry and an additional degree in biology.
She met John, a fellow student, at the school library and he was smitten at once and began courting her shortly afterward. They graduated in 1951 and married in Oxford at St. John Catholic Church.
She followed John to Biloxi, Miss., to Albuquerque, N.M., and Presque Isle, Maine, as he fulfilled his ROTC duty to the U.S. Air Force.
After his time in the Air Force, Dr. Prados did graduate studies at the University of Tennessee. Mrs. Prados trained and worked as a lab technician at St. Mary’s Hospital until the birth of their first daughter, Elizabeth, another miracle. Mrs. Prados had been told that after her accident, she would not be able to have children. Two more daughters followed as Dr. Prados finished his graduate studies and began working in the UT chemical engineering department.
Mrs. Prados was a stay-at-home mom for a time, immersed in the care of her daughters and sharing her many interests with them.
She completed the Famous Artists correspondence course, submitted artwork to the Dogwood Arts Festival, and took classes locally in pastel portraiture. She did portraits of her children and her mother, and even did a commission for a parish priest of his parents.
Mrs. Prados was an accomplished seamstress who made her own wedding dress and enjoyed making clothing for herself and her daughters. She taught them to sew as well. She was a Girl Scout leader and president of the school PTA, always involved in her children’s lives and activities and encouraging them in every way.
She came from a very musical family. Her mother had taught her to play the piano when she was a child, and she played mandolin in the family band. As an adult, she took up the guitar. She enjoyed singing and playing the guitar with the St. John XXIII University Parish music groups. She took classical guitar lessons for several years and loved to attend Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamp in Maryville annually with her dear friend, Ruth Smith. She and Dr. Prados even went on a bluegrass cruise that she enjoyed greatly.
When her youngest daughter, Anne, was in elementary school, Mrs. Prados obtained her certification as a medical technologist. She worked outside the home until family once again called for her full attention.
She cared for her first grandchild, Mary Beth, while her parents worked. Eventually, her father, after her mother’s death, and her in-laws came to live in her and John’s home. She managed medications, doctor’s appointments, dietary restrictions, and the home, all while taking care of a young child. Wonder woman!
We are astounded at how she somehow did it all, filling each day with love and compassion.
After, taking care of their elderly parents until their passing, she was faced with the difficult challenge of breast cancer. With her usual bravery and perseverance, she overcame the disease and the treatments, surviving to enjoy many more years of life with her family.
After recovery, she had time to travel with Dr. Prados, who was still working at UT as an administrator..
A funeral Mass was held at St. John XXIII on June 29, with a reception following. A burial service was held at Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery on June 30.
Donations in Mrs. Prados’ memory may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation or the Young-Williams Animal Center in Knoxville.