VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — It takes a special kind of person to have a legacy that transcends their lifetime, but Dr. Ruby Allen did just that.

Remarkable doesn’t even begin to describe the barrier-breaking achievements she made throughout her life.

She was the first Black choir teacher in Virginia Beach.

She taught at the Princess Anne County Training School, a segregated school for Black students.

Allen then went on to become a guest choir director at high schools across Hampton Roads.

She spent the last 20 years of her career teaching music appreciation and music theory at Green Run High School. She died Jan. 14.

During that time, she met Dr. Don Krudop, current artistic director of the Virginia Beach Chorale.

At the time, he was a music teacher at Princess Anne Jr. High School.

“A lot of my students went to Green Run, so I was sending her singers from the Princess Anne choirs,” he said.

Through that relationship, he was able to see and admire the passion she had for teaching.

“There’s a quote about teachers never knowing where their impact ends,” Krudop said. “And it’s like dropping a pebble in a pond and you never know where the ripples go. And she had that kind of impact on so many young people, both in the school setting and the church setting.”

A lot of her time was spent in church, specifically the Second Calvary Baptist Church, home to the Dr. Ruby Allen Music Academy.

And the accomplishments didn’t stop there, at 81-years-old, she received her doctorate from the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music.

The number of achievements she made throughout her life seems endless, but to Dana Duckworth, Dr. Ruby Allen was just grandma.

“Music was literally a part of her everyday life,” Duckworth said, “so she would make a song about any and everything, whether there was humming or there was her practicing her vocal ability.”

And in making history, Allen seemed to follow in the footsteps of her own mother, Ruby Kates, who was the first Black jail matron in Virginia Beach.

Duckworth told 10 On Your Side the success of the women in her family just pushes her to be and do the best she can.

She teared up as she remembered one of the last conversations she had with her grandma.

“She told me she was proud of me,” Duckworth said. “So, I’d like to turn that back to her and tell her that I’m so proud of her and continue to be, and I’ll continue to sing her praises.”

She said she plans to have a scholarship named after her grandmother to continue her great legacy and her dedication to teaching.