Hazel Ruby McQuain

Hazel Ruby McQuain ( Robinson; March 22, 1909 – June 15, 2002) was an American businesswoman, community leader, and philanthropist. She is, perhaps, best known for her $8 million donation toward the construction of J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, the flagship academic medical center of West Virginia University, which is named in honor of her late-husband, J.W. Ruby. During her life, McQuain formed the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, which continues to make frequent, substantial donations throughout the Morgantown community to this day.

Early life Born Hazel Lera Robinson on March 22, 1909, in Coshocton, Ohio, to parents James Robinson and Clemma Lowery, McQuain was one of seven children.

Personal life and career In 1926, just three months after her high school graduation, McQuain married John Wesley "J.W." Ruby. The couple purchased a nearby grocery store in Newcomerstown, which McQuain managed, while her husband worked in the plating department of the Sterling Faucet Company’s brass facility. In 1940, after the brass facility was destroyed in a fire the previous year, Sterling Faucet moved its operations to Morgantown, West Virginia. McQuain's husband was placed in charge of the new location, alongside Sterling, and the two would also make the move to Morgantown that same year. After the Second World War came to an end, Ruby would become the owner of the Sterling Faucet Company. In December 1958, Sterling acquired manufacturing plants in Tyler, Texas; Ohio; and Massachusetts, eventually expanding operations internationally with the purchase of a brass manufacturing facility in Oakville, Ontario, Canada in August 1961. By 1967, Sterling reported revenue of $28 million and employed over 2,000 individuals. On November 18, 1968, Ruby sold Sterling Faucet Company to Rockwell Manufacturing Company for an undisclosed sum.

On August 14, 1972, just shy of four years after selling the company that saw the couple prosper to great wealth, amassing millions, J.W. Ruby died at the age of 69, after 46 years of marriage. With her husband's passing, McQuain assumed control of the family's business empire, being named president of Ruby Enterprises, Inc. and its numerous subsidiaries.