[August 01, 2011] The Fayetteville Observer, N.C., Bill Kirby Jr. column Tweet Jul 30, 2011 (The Fayetteville Observer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Ruby Pankey never had a byline. She never covered a beat. She took no photographs for this newspaper. She sold no advertising and she never tossed newspapers on your lawn. But Mrs. Pankey was one of us. For 26 years, she was a telephone receptionist here, usually working the nightshift, patching us reporters through to our editors, transferring eager fans to our sports department or fielding questions about the Observer. "Fayetteville Observer," was her clarion welcome to callers on the end of the line, "may I help you?" She got the news before the reporters. She knew when the bank got robbed, what the suspect was wearing and which way the get-a-way car headed. She knew first who won the big game. And, I might add, the score. She cared about our subscribers and their concerns, and she cared about us. She wanted to know about our lives -- our spouses and our children and our mothers and and our fathers and our grandparents, and our hopes and dreams. She liked to tell us about her children, Bill and Connie, and later a grandchild, and that husband of hers, Earl, who she tended to so lovingly when health issues plagued his way. She came to this newspaper on March 5, 1972, and she was a natural after working as an operator with Carolina Telephone. She was old school. She was another in that greatest generation who knew what it was to give an employer a good day's -- or night's -- work, and to give your best. "It's time to step down," she said in 1998, as she retired at age 71. She looked forward to her gardening, some fishing and her country cooking. "I'll survive," she told us with an assurance and a smile. "I'll be eating corn bread and black-eyed peas." Ruby Mae Pankey died Sunday. She was 84. She answered thousands upon thousands upon thousand of calls at this newspaper for more than a quarter of a century. And Sunday past, our beloved "Mrs. Pankey" answered her most important call of all, and God was on the other end and calling one of his saints home. Bill Kirby can be reached at [email protected] or 323-4848, ext. 486. To see more of The Fayetteville Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.fayettevillenc.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Fayetteville Observer, N.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]