Ruby Jacquemin: Arizona Public Health Statistician

As described in Part 1, September 2026 marked the 100th anniversary of Arizona’s entry into the federal registration areas for vital statistics. The woman who piloted Arizona to this milestone was Ruby Loy Jacquemin, a Prescott native who, after early widowhood, became the statistician for the State Board of Health. Who was Ruby Jacquemin, and what did she do?Ruby Loy in PrescottRuby May Loy was born in Prescott on September 16, 1889, a few months after territorial capital had been moved (or “stolen,” according to Prescott residents¹) from that city to Phoenix. Her father James Loy had been living in Arizona for at least 10 years; her mother Sarah Ballenger Loy moved to Prescott from Missouri after marrying James in 1888. James was admitted to the practice of law in January 1894 (members of the examining committee said “he passed the best examination of any applicant who was ever examined here,” AWJM, 01/03/1894, p. 3) and he moved to Flagstaff in May of that year. Few details are…