Jack Ruff

Jack Peter Ruff, 92, of Little Falls died peacefully on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at the St. Cloud VA Medical Center following a brief illness. A memorial service will be held at 11 AM Saturday, July 9, 2016 at Faith Lutheran Church, 303 18th Street SE, Little Falls, MN, visitation will be for one hour before the service. Memorials are preferred.

Jack was born on November 23, 1923 to Andrew and Hilda (Schunk) Ruff in Clayton, Wisconsin. He left school at age 14 upon the death of his father to help run the family farm. Following World War II, he served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper in the 11th Airborne Division.

On June 10, 1950 he was united in marriage to Nellie Moriak. They were blessed with five children and raised their family in New Hope, Minnesota. In 1987 they moved to Pillager, Minnesota after Jack retired from nearly 30 years of employment at Minnegasco. He married Marylou Spangler on October 3, 1992, and after several years of lake living, they made Little Falls their home.

Jack was a kind, gentle man and his devotion to his family was often shown by handmade gifts of wooden clocks, bookcases, and other furniture. He loved nature and spent many hours watching the ducks and herons that nested in the pond behind his home and feeding the birds that came to his feeder and raising monarch butterflies in his later years. He will be remembered for his patience and steadfastness, his jokes at the supper table, his chuckle, making German pancakes for supper and his late night snacking as he made his lunch for work.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Nellie, his brothers George and Robert, sister Lorraine, stepson Bradley, and great-granddaughter Ariana.

He is survived by his wife Marylou, sister Dorothy (Joe Claude) Johnson, his children Carmen Svenkeson, Mark (Suzanne) Ruff, Tanya (Lloyd) Willard, Carla (Timothy) Manning and Jeanette Ruff; his stepchildren Mark and Greg Spangler, and Kim Jones; his grandchildren Dawn, Daniel, Adam, Jacob, Seth, Ian, Ember, Samuel, Nathanael, Josiyah, Matthew, Rachel, Abigail and Maria; and ten great-grandchildren. Arrangements have been entrusted to Brenny Funeral Chapel in Randall, MN.