Rock Island resident and Cannon County native Ruth Evelyn Martin, 85, was born Nov. 21, 1929 and died Sept. 19 at St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville following a sudden illness. A retired seamstress with Cook’s Department Store and a member of Friendship the Baptist Church, she was the daughter of the late Sterling Brown and Lonnie Gertrude Campbell Vinson. She was married to Willie C. Martin, who preceded her in death.