BUFFALO, N.Y. — Ruth Whitfield has four kids, nine grandkids, and 10 great-grandchildren.
The 86-year-old also leaves behind a husband, who she was visiting at a local nursing home right before she went to Tops on May 14.
To know the meaning of a family woman was to know Whitfield. Even those who weren't in her family tree, considered Whitfield from the same blood.
"She became like a big sister for me," The Rev. George Woodruff said.
To know love was to know Ruth Whitfield.
"Her legacy would be one of love," a speaker said at her funeral.
It's no wonder that love was given back to her at her funeral. Every pew filled, Ruth's life was one to celebrate.
"Now sing it like you really mean it. This is my story," Woodruff said.
Whitfield's story began in 1936, when she was born in Jackson, Mississippi, but later raised on Grand Island.
In 1954, she found the love of her life in Garnell Whitfield. When Whitfield wasn't cooking up one hell of a mac and cheese, she was probably at the thrift store.
Though she didn't graduate high school, she made sure to finally get her GED, a lifelong dream finally achieved.
She was the kind of woman you'd feel lucky to know and to her kids, a mother devastating to lose.
"That hole in their heart will never be filled," said Traserra Adams, Whitfield's cousin.
Now Whitfield's family and an entire community must pick up the pieces.
"I'm standing at a funeral for my friend's grandma because this man decided that we weren't good enough," said Latasha Hare, a friend of the Whitfield family. "It's so, so, so sad. It's just so sad."
Every day, but especially the day of Whitfield's funeral, they must wonder when someone will finally create change that is good enough so another one of their angels on earth doesn't have to become an angel in heaven.
Whitfield's service was held at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in the Grider-Delavan neighborhood. Among those at her funeral were a plethora of government officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris.