Sonny Ruff
Lawrence Fredrick “Sonny” Ruff of Holyoke, longtime resident of Logan, Kansas, died Nov. 22, 2020, at Melissa Memorial Hospital in Holyoke.
Sonny was born March 5, 1936, at the family home to Herman Richard Ruff and Jenny Matilda Gottbreth Ruff. He was raised in Logan and spent many an hour on the Solomon River and fishing at Logan Lake.
He worked at the family blacksmith shop, the Ruff Garage, and Logan Movie Theater. He delivered ice from the Phillipsburg Ice House to Logan and then delivered it around town.
After his graduation from Logan High School, Jenny and Richard put him on the train to Kansas City to learn to be a mechanic. He worked at the Burlesque and helped out at a dairy out east of town. He really enjoyed going just down the street to the cafeteria and where he could get pancakes and sausages for $0.05.
He graduated from mechanics school and went back to Logan. He worked in Stockton, Kansas, at the Walter Motor Garage as a mechanic for them. In 1956, he met and then married Ruby Ilene Shockley at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Logan. Love for Sonny and Ruby was a very short six-month courtship. It was literally love at first sight.
In the summer of 1957, Sonny was inducted into the U.S. Army and was transferred to Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. He served as a supply clerk and enjoyed it very much. In 1958, Sheila Denise was born on the Fort Carson Army base.
In 1962, Sonny and Ruby moved back to Logan, and Sonny took over the Ruff Welding Shop after the untimely death of his father, Richard. After a very short time, the city of Logan asked him if he would join the Logan Fire Department as a volunteer. It was not long before he was asked to take over the department as chief. In the summer, Richard Lawrence was born at the hospital in Phillipsburg, Kansas.
Sonny worked as a self-employed blacksmith, in the oil field with Cities Service, the Tamko Shingle Factory and numerous drilling companies in the area, but his great love was service to the community as a volunteer fireman.
He served for 58 years on the Logan Fire Department and 50 years as the chief, and he served the state of Kansas on the Kansas State Firefighters Association board as a northwest Kansas trustee and as the historian. In 2006, Sonny was awarded the National Volunteer Fireman of the Year.
Sonny greatly enjoyed taking pictures of the family and the firemen. He loved hunting and fishing and sharing the love of fishing with anyone who was interested.
Sonny is survived by one sister-in-law, Dorothy Shockley; stepbrother, Charley and Judy Young; stepsister, Vicki McKay; daughter, Sheila and Paul Gift of Holyoke, and their children, Andrea and Gary McCallum, Christopher and Shalea Gift, Megan and Nathan Schwarz, and Braden Gift; son, Richard and Denise Ruff, and their children, Stephanie and Kyle Carlin, Daniel and Aubrey Ruff, Tiffany and Brian Seeliger, and Jennifer Ruff and Kalin; Sheila’s grandchildren, Bennett McCallum, Shayanna Gift, Nash Gift, Remy Gift, Vincent Schwarz and Scarlett Schwarz; and Richard’s grandchildren, Lauren Carlin, Evan Carlin, Weston Ruff, Colton “Mouse” Ruff, Lila Seeliger and Matthew Seeliger.
Sonny was preceded in death by his wife, Ruby (Shockley) Ruff; his parents, Jenny (Gottbreth) Ruff Young and Richard Ruff; stepfather, Howard Young; two sisters, Aileen Noel and Evelyn Brooks; and great-grandson, Blye McCallum.
Funeral services were held Nov. 27 at the Logan Christian Church, with Pastor Gary Rahe officiating. Burial followed in the Pleasant View Cemetery in Logan. Services were streamed live on the Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel Facebook Page. A Celebration of Life service will be held in Holyoke at a later date.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Logan Fire Department, c/o Logan Funeral Home, P.O. Box 217, Logan, KS 67646.
Online condolences may be left at www.olliffboeve.com.
Olliff-Boeve Memorial Chapel in Phillipsburg was entrusted with the arrangements.