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GREENSBORO — When sculptor Ruffin Hobbs was on the Guilford College campus, “you always had this feeling it was a big deal,” said David Newton, an assistant professor and sculptor at Guilford.

When Hobbs was on campus for graduation, his presence — wearing a kilt, playing bagpipes —  added drama and gravity to the ceremony. Exhibiting his art, he showed Guilford art students what their futures could hold.

“Having him out there doing really strong work made it more real to the students here,” Newton said.

Hobbs, 55, died Monday after falling from a third-floor doorway in his home, a converted 19th-century grist mill in southern Alamance County where he had a studio.

Authorities believe the fall was an accident. Alamance County deputies found no evidence indicating suicide or foul play, but the investigation will stay open until the medical examiner returns a final report, said Randy Jones, a spokesman for the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office.

Jones said a neighbor found Hobbs’ naked body about 9 a.m. Monday at his home on McBane Mill Road. He appears to have hit his head on his stone front stoop, and a subsequent autopsy revealed a broken neck and a fractured skull.

Investigators believe Hobbs died sometime Monday. There is no balcony or barrier on the third floor to prevent a fall, Jones said.

Deputies found cobwebs on the door, which suggested it had been open for some time, perhaps to ventilate the structure’s top floor.

Hobbs lived by himself in southern Alamance County in a former grist mill built in about 1850.
Hobbs was a 1975 Guilford graduate who played the bagpipes each year at the college’s graduation.

He was the son of the late Grimsley Hobbs and great-grandson of the late Lewis Lyndon Hobbs, both of whom served as Guilford College presidents.

“He was a tremendous sculptor,” said Cary Worthy, executive director of the Alamance County Arts Council. “We’re reeling about the news today. It is a tremendous loss for the community.”

The Herald-Sun of Durham contributed to this report.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com