Ruth Gray Wheliss

Ruth Gray Wheliss, age 90, passed away Wednesday, August 27, 2025 at home in the Pennybyrn retirement community in High Point, NC.

She was born July 26, 1935 in Thomasville, NC to Fred Burton Gray and Jean Roddick Gray. After attending Thomasville High School as well as Converse College, Ruth went on to teach school in Charlotte, NC. It is there she met and married Joseph Denson Wheliss of Rockingham, NC. Ruth and Joe moved back to Thomasville, NC in 1963.

Ruth was a mother and a homemaker and she also participated in civic organizations such as the Phi Beta Book Club. She loved taking art classes and produced some beautiful work. Other interests included gardening and interior design.

She is survived by a daughter Sarah Wheliss Bosher and her husband Monroe of Greensboro, NC and a son Joseph Denson Wheliss, Jr., and his wife Maggie of Pawleys Island, SC. She has three grandchildren and two step grandchildren, Joseph Ryland Wheliss, John Hill Gray Wheliss, Sarah Eleanor Wheliss, and Morris Gates Baxley, all of Nashville, TN, and Montgomery Monroe Bosher, of Randleman, NC. Ruth also has numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband of more than 50 years, Joseph Denson Wheliss, as well as by her sister, Nancy Gray Hodgin.

A Celebration of Life reception will be held at Pennybyrn in High Point, NC, on Friday, September 12 at 2:00 PM. Memorials can be made to Hospice of the Piedmont. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.jcgreenandsons.com

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