Merle H. RUKA

RUKA, THOMPSON, DRURY, BEUKEMA, FRIEDOW, ABBAS, JOHNSON

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 6/2/2007 at 17:30:07

Mason City Globe Gazette
26 February 2001

Merle H. Ruka, 82, of Belmond, passed away Friday (Feb. 23, 2001) at the Belmond Health Care Center in Belmond. Funeral services for Merle H. Ruka will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the United Methodist Church in Goodell with the Rev. Curtis DeVance officiating. Burial will take place in the Amsterdam cemetery near Goodell. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. today at the Dugger Ewing Funeral Home in Belmond and one hour prior to services at the church on Tuesday.

Merle, the son of Arthur and Florence Thompson Ruka, was born July 22, 1918, at Goodell. He was raised west of Goodell. Merle attended country schools and graduated from Belmond High School in 1936. Merle was united in marriage to Marguerite Drury on March 14, 1941, at the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Goodell. The couple made their home west of Goodell where Merle farmed. They moved to Belmond in 1995. Merle and Marguerite would have been married 60 years next month. Three children were born to this union, Gary, Lynn and Marilyn. Merle's life consisted of his family and friends. He was member of the Goodell United Methodist Church where he held many positions. Merle was also a 50-year member of the Masonic Lodge. He served on the Hancock County ASCS Board for several years. Merle worked at the Belmond Sale Barn for many years.

Merle is survived by his wife, Marguerite, of Belmond; two sons, Gary and his wife, Sheila, of Belmond and Lynn and his wife, Lorraine, of Tucson, Ariz.; one daughter, Marilyn Beukema and her husband, Dick, of Mitchellville; an aunt, Ethyl Thompson of Belmond; six grandchildren, Darcy Ruka, of Council Bluffs, Julie Ruka, of Lake Mills, Wis., Steven Ruka of Boulder, Colo., Lori Ruka, of Phoenix, Ariz., Todd Beukema ,of Mitchellville and Dean Beukema, of Guthrie Center; seven great-grandchildren; his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Donald and Florence Johnson, of Britt, Beryl Friedow, of Kanawha, Mae Drury, of Rowan, Keith and Doris Drury, of Madison, Ala., Don Abbas, of Kanawha, and Evelyn Ruka, of Boulder, Colo.; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother, Lyle; sister, Eleanor Abbas; brothers-in-law, Robert Drury and Milton Friedow; a niece, Jayanna Friedow and two nephews, Steve Drury and Wayne Johnson. Dugger Ewing Funeral Home.