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(AP) — Hazel Ruby McQuain, a businesswoman who gave millions of dollars to Morgantown and West Virginia University, died at home Saturday following an extended illness. She was 93. McQuain, a member of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors, put up $8 million in 1984 to launch the construction of Ruby Memorial Hospital, named for her first husband, John Wesley Ruby, who died in 1972. Her second husband, Joseph B. McQuain, died last year. “In 1984, that contribution was the largest gift ever in West Virginia up until that time,” said Ruby President Bruce McClymonds. “WVU and Ruby Memorial Hospital have the premiere medical facilities in the state, and it’s fair to say that we wouldn’t be offering that quality of care if it hadn’t been for her gift.” In 1986, the West Virginia Society of Washington, D.C., named McQuain its Daughter of the Year. “I can remember,” she said 16 years ago, “when I paid all the bills and had nine cents left in my pocket until next pay day. I never complained. It is good to be pinched for money.” That statement was made entirely without irony, her friends said Saturday, by a woman who never lost her down-to-earth charm and hard-driving work ethic, even as she amassed millions of dollars in a wealth of business enterprises. The family portfolio included coal mines, grocery stores, thoroughbred racehorses and the former Sterling Faucet Co. More often than not, the McQuain money went right back into the community to establish programs, recreational facilities and University chairs. “It was never about her,” McClymonds said. “It was always about the University or the community. And her stamp is on the community, everywhere you look.” Morgantown Mayor Frank Scafella said he plans to honor McQuain with a walk at Hazel McQuain Riverfront Park, a $550,000 project in the city’s Wharf District. “She was a very humble, self-effacing person, but it’s her generosity that made that project possible,” Scafella said. “The community just couldn’t have done it otherwise.” Memorial services will be 8 p.m. Monday at Dering’s Funeral Home in Morgantown. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at Wesley United Methodist Church. Burial will be in East Oak Grove Cemetery.
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