George was the fifth son born on 8 August 1905 to William Joseph Rueff, Jr and Anna Marie Kirn Rueff on 8 August 1905 in Louisville, KY. His father, William founded the Rueff Sign Company in 1912. My grandfather has five brothers and one sister.
On 26 September 1936, George married my grandmother, Mary Myrtle Behrle. George and Myrtle lived in and raised their children, Nina, Kenny and Bonnie in Louisville. George worked in the family business, Rueff Sign Company. He loved to fish and was an avid bowler too. That love of bowling is alive and well in his great grandson Bryan.
My memories of George are wonderful! I remember as a child we would go to visit George and Myrtle and he would have pint size containers filled with change. He would dump the change out and I would have to count it out down to the last penny! I remember being at their house on Hounz Lane (the house is no longer there due to road expansion) and spending many fun hours with my cousins, aunts & uncles.
After Myrtle died in 1977, my grandfather moved to Tennessee to live with his son Kenny and his wife Barbara and their family. He would go and spend time with each of his daughters families too. By the late 1980's my grandfather came to live with Mom and Dad. I am grateful for the time my sons, Kenny and David got to spend with their great grandfather. I know that my children and all of my cousins children benefited from knowing their great grandfather.
For as long as I can remember George and Myrtle always had a dog and a bird in their home. I will never forget the day that I walked into his room (at my Mom's) to say hello and found a note on the bird cage in his room. The note said, "George, please clean my cage. Love, Bird". I just laughed!
My grandfather died on 19 May 1991. We were all in his room and my Mom was holding one of his hands and I was holding the other. He was peaceful and I am sure he was ready to see Myrtle again too. My grandfather was buried in Louisville, KY. My Mom, her sister, Bonnie and I all flew together to take George home.
My grandfather was a warm, kind, loving, patient and generous man. He was always happy I don't ever recall seeing him mad about anything (but then I am biased) and he moved at a very slow pace, literally.
Happy Birthday, George! I love you!
No comments:
Post a Comment