Ruby Marie Crawford, 90, tireless Atlanta booster

Miss Crawford — the last half of the legendary Crawford twins — died June 6. A memorial service is scheduled for 4 p.m. June 28 at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. Like her sister, she was cremated.

"She loved food, she loved her church, she loved charities, she loved animals and she loved pink," Chandler said. "She loved to dress up and she loved to know she looked pretty and she loved for people to tell her."

Miss Crawford and her sister, who died in 2005, epitomized Atlanta's can-do, pitch-in spirit and were tireless boosters of the city they loved. They were known for their zealous charity work, political campaigning and for being ingrained in the city's culture and institutions. They were arguably an institution themselves.

For more than 30 years the Buckhead denizens were a fixture at the Peachtree Road Race, sitting in front of their Methodist church, decked out in stars-and-stripes outfits, cheering top runners and hapless ones alike — and the runners cheered them.

When Mary Mac's Tea Room opened, the sisters showed up to make menu suggestions and to wait on customers, Chandler said. When Carter needed volunteers for his presidential campaign's "Peanut Brigade," the Crawford twins barnstormed for him. When Hosea Williams needed helpers to serve food at his Feed the Hungry campaigns, the sisters stepped up.

They collected a host of civic awards, and they heavily supported institutions such as the High Museum of Art, the Atlanta Humane Society, the Buckhead Club and the Democratic Party.

"They moved to Atlanta at age 14 to work and study, and all their lives they were outgoing people who loved to be in the community and loved to do volunteer work," said the Rev. Betsy Lunz, minister for pastoral care at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. "When I met them 12 years ago, they were central to the life of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church. I marveled they had time for anything other than church."

The two women lived nearly identical lives. The Temple natives both earned law degrees from the Atlanta School of Law and master's degrees in accounting from Georgia State University. Both were presidents of the American Society of Women Accountants and the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers — and many colleagues couldn't tell them apart.

They didn't make identification easy.

"They were always together and they always wore identical clothing every day of their lives — every day of their lives," said Chandler, the longtime team doctor for the Braves. "They even had twin poodles."

They worked for the First National Bank of Atlanta, now Wachovia, for 33 years before retiring early to become Realtors. Ruby Crawford told Chandler that in real estate, the pay scale was fairer than in banking or law.

"She said in real estate 7 percent was 7 percent whether you were a man or a woman," he said. "They were trailblazers for women — for women's equality."

The Crawford women were profiled in magazines — including the National Enquirer — books and a documentary film, Georgia Public Television's "Lost Atlanta — The Way We Were."

In 1954 they stumped the TV panel on "What's My Line?" as the only twin female members of the American Bar Association, and in recent years they appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

But their charm, grace and enthusiasm were perhaps what set them apart more than any plaque, gene or accolade.

They were featured in a chapter in the book "Southern Belle Primer, or Why Princess Margaret will never make Kappa Kappa Gamma." They were selected as "Most Gracious Ladies in Georgia" 30 years ago and honored annually by the Court of Gracious Ladies in Columbus.

"To me, their passing is a huge loss to Southern culture," Chandler said. "They were part of the spirt of Atlanta."

Survivors include another sister, Joan Crawford of Douglasville.