December 28, 1931 - November 25, 2024
Ruth Icenogle McCann, retired real estate broker, died peacefully on November 25, 2024 in Statesboro, Georgia, where she was under the care of Regency Hospice at Willow Pond Assisted Living and Suites.
She was born in Atlanta, Georgia on December 28, 1931 to parents Inez Allen Icenogle and Karl Luster Icenogle, Sr. Ruth grew up in Buckhead and was an active member of the Covenant Presbyterian Church. Upon graduating from North Fulton High School in Atlanta, she attended and later graduated from Huntington College in Montgomery, Alabama in 1951 with a degree in Religion. She began her early career as a church administrative secretary before taking a position with an Atlanta law firm as a legal secretary. This sparked her interest in the law, and she attended Emory University School of Law in the evening as one of few women at that time. After a year, she determined balancing the schedule of work and law school to be too difficult. However, she did discover a keen interest in real estate law which would guide her future professional career.
Ruth met Robert Russell (Bob) McCann of Atlanta at a dance at the Piedmont Driving Club, when he literally “swept her off her feet.” They married six months later on June 23, 1956. Within the first four years of marriage, they had three children, and Ruth became a busy stay-at-home mother. It was during this time in 1957 that she and her husband moved to Avondale Estates, Georgia where she would spend the next sixty-four years as an active member of her community. She was a faithful member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Parish Church, Decatur, where she was in Daughters of the King. Due to health reasons, she moved to Statesboro in 2021 to live closer to her daughter.
Ruth was most widely known in Atlanta as one of the formative women realtors, serving Dekalb County over her forty-year career, starting out as a saleswoman and later Sales Manager of Walter Scott Realty, Decatur. She later established Ruth McCann Realty in Avondale Estates in order to concentrate on her community and the surrounding areas. Her distinguished career included: DeKalb Young Council of Realtors, Board of Directors of the Metro Listing Service, President of the Certified Residential Specialists Diamond Chapter, President of Certified Residential Brokers, recipient of the Georgia Association of Realtors Scholarship Foundation Life Membership Award, President of the Dekalb Board of Realtors, Baron Dekalb Award recipient from the Dekalb Board, Dekalb Board of Realtors “Realtor of the Year,” Metro Listing Service Outstanding Achievement Award, National Association of Realtors, member of Who’s Who of American Women, graduate of the Georgia Realtors Institute and Real Estate Brokerage program, founder and President of the Women’s Council of Realtors, Regional VP of the Women’s Council of Realtors, and she was a Life Member of the Dekalb Board of Realtors’ Million Dollar Club. She received the prestigious Mary Nelson Realtor Spirit Award from the Dekalb Board of Realtors in 1996. Ruth believed in professional standards of excellence and did all she could to promote a growing industry and home ownership for all people.
Ruth served on the Dekalb County Young Life Committee when her daughters were active in the ministry in high school. She became an alumna initiate of Zeta Tau Alpha’s Zeta Xi Chapter at Georgia Southern University, joining her mother, daughter and granddaughter as a ZTA. She was a member of the Atlanta Alpha Alumnae Chapter of ZTA. As a retiree, she joined the Decatur Rotary Club and enjoyed staying abreast of economic development in her beloved Decatur and Avondale Estates. She was a member of the Avondale Community Club, Avon Garden Club of Avondale Estates, the Avondale Woman’s Club and the Druid Hills Golf Club in Decatur, as well as served as the Georgia President of the Magnolia Chapter of the American Cut Glass Association. Ruth took active interest in business, politics, gardening and genealogy. She loved to travel intercontinentally and abroad. Her love of people, knowing “their story,” and making connections was evident to all she met.
Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her brother Karl Luster Icenogle, Jr., and her son Robert Russell McCann, Jr. She is survived by her daughters Alice McCann (Harry) Mathews (Statesboro) and Carole McCann (Mike) Ketterbaugh (Macon), her grandchildren Ruth Lovett McMullen (Milledgeville), Harry “Smith” (Sage) Mathews Jr. (Savannah), William “Robert” (Holly) Lovett (Decatur), Allen McCann Mathews (Statesboro), Pratt Edward (Sally) Mathews (Statesboro), and six great grandchildren. Ruth is also survived by beloved nieces and nephews and their families.
A special appreciation goes to the staff of Willow Pond Assisted Living and Suites and her caregiver, Gertrude Brown, for providing a loving and safe home these last three years.
A Celebration of Life Service will be held at Holy Trinity Parish Episcopal Church, Decatur on Thursday, December 12th at 2:00 pm. Ash scattering will be in the Holy Trinity Parish Episcopal Church’s Memorial Garden.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Holy Trinity Parish Episcopal Church, 515 E Ponce de Leon Ave, Decatur, GA 30030 or Young Life, giving.younglife.org, Macon Area – GA160 or Statesboro Area – GA173.
Friends may sign the online register book at www.joineranderson.com
Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home & Crematory of Statesboro is in charge of arrangements.
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