Birth | September 2, 1916 48 41 Minto Township |
Death of a paternal grandfather | December 6, 1931 (Age 15) At home in Listowel, Ontario Canada Samuel Holgate Ruller - paternal grandfather |
Death of a paternal grandmother | January 18, 1946 (Age 29) Home of Mrs. Jim Pike, Con 5, Minto township, Ontario Alice Jane Hargrave - paternal grandmother |
Death of a mother | September 25, 1962 (Age 46) Elora, Ont, Nursing Home Ida Brothers - mother |
Death of a father | October 25, 1964 (Age 48) Guelph Hospital, Guelph, ontario Canada William Thomas Ruller - father |
Death of a sister | September 28, 1982 (Age 66) Stratford General Hospital, Stratford Ontario, Canada Janet Elsie Minerva Ruller - elder sister |
Burial of a sister | October 1, 1982 (Age 66) Fordwich Cemetery, Fordwich, Ontario, Canada Janet Elsie Minerva Ruller - elder sister |
Death of a brother | December 4, 1987 (Age 71) Kitchener General Hospital, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Charles Melvin Ruller - elder brother |
Death of a brother | June 1990 (Age 73) Wesley William Ruller - elder brother |
Death of a brother | December 1993 (Age 77) Lloyd Ewart Ruller - elder brother |
Death of a sister | about 2002 (Age 85) Rilla Jane Ruller - elder sister |
Death | November 10, 2003 (Age 87) Hospital in Welland Ontario |
Burial | Cremated |
Family with parents - View Family |
father |
William Thomas Ruller
Birth April 21, 1868 25 16 - 7th of Wallace Twsp. Ontario
Death October 25, 1964 (Age 96) - Guelph Hospital, Guelph, ontario Canada Loading...
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7 years mother |
Ida Brothers
Birth August 18, 1875 50 41 - 7th of Wallace Township, Perth County, Ontario, Canada
Death September 25, 1962 (Age 87) - Elora, Ont, Nursing Home Loading...
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#1 sister |
Janet Elsie Minerva Ruller
Birth June 5, 1896 28 20 - Wallace Township, Ontario
Death September 28, 1982 (Age 86) - Stratford General Hospital, Stratford Ontario, Canada Loading...
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21 months #2 sister |
Alice Hannah Ruller
Birth March 6, 1898 29 22 -
Death March 16, 1898 (Age 10 days) - Wallace Township, Ontario Loading...
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16 months #3 brother |
Wesley William Ruller
Birth June 25, 1899 31 23 - Wallace Township, Ontario
Death June 1990 (Age 90) - Loading...
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22 months #4 brother |
Charles Melvin Ruller
Birth April 24, 1901 33 25 - At Home, Lot 42, Concession 3 of Minto Township, Ontario, Canada. See house in Media
Death December 4, 1987 (Age 86) - Kitchener General Hospital, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada Loading...
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23 months #5 sister |
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3 years #6 brother |
Lloyd Ewart Ruller
Birth September 17, 1905 37 30 - Minto Township, Ontario
Death December 1993 (Age 88) - Loading...
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#7 sister |
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#8 |
Kenneth Wilkin Ruller
Birth September 2, 1916 48 41 - Minto Township
Death November 10, 2003 (Age 87) - Hospital in Welland Ontario Loading...
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Family with Private - View Family |
Kenneth Wilkin Ruller
Birth September 2, 1916 48 41 - Minto Township
Death November 10, 2003 (Age 87) - Hospital in Welland Ontario Loading...
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wife |
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#1 son |
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#2 daughter |
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#3 son |
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#6 daughter |
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Shared note | "A Tribute to Ken" (On the program of the Celebration Service for the Life of Kenneth Wilkin Ruller, held on Thursday, the 13th of november, 2003) Ken was born September 2, 1916 in Minto Township, Ontario. He was the youngest of eight children of William and Ida Ruller. In his childhood the family farmed just outside of Fergus, Ontario. Ken spent much of his time working as an electrician and his life was characterized by an ability to use his hands to build and fix almost anything he put his mind to. The building of four family homes and the renovating of many others allowed Ken the opportunity to use his talents and his energies. Family was always a very significant part of Ken's life. With six children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren scattered across the world, his family and their interests and activities were of great importance to him. He sacrificed personally to provide for his own children and continued to offer help, assistance and councel through into his senior years. Ken discovered the joy of physical fitness that came from exercise in his middle and later life. At first it was cycling, then roller blading (even as an eighty year old), followed by walking and most recently riding his tri-cycle at the Niagara College track. His example was an inspiration and motivation to many much younger people. Extensive travel characterised much of his adult life as he lived in New Zealand, Australia and in various parts of Canada. Ken Never backed away from a challenge. He taught us all to view obstacles and disappointments as opportunities to grow. We will cherish the values he modelled and shared and instilled in us all. e-mail From: Mel Ruller [mruller@cogeco.ca] Sent: Friday, November 14, 2003 11:49 AM To: Randy Ruller; Tim Ruller; Terry & Kellie Ruller; Mike Ruller; Birget Lund Subject: Uncle Ken's Memorial Hi All; Well we had the season's first winter storm and it was a beaut. We didn't get to Ken's memorial and neither did anyone else from this part of Southern Ontario! The storm began with high winds and dropping temperatures, on Wednesday evening and continued for about 24 hours. By Thursday morning we had about 2 inches of snow and winds up to 120KM/hr !!! There were lots of trees and hydro wires blown down. Our hydro went off at 6:30 am and didn't come back on until 9:10 at night. We don't have heat (furnace) or water, (we're on our own well) without hydro so we can't flush toilets. (We do have a little water, whatever's left when the power goes off, so we conserve) Luckily we do have a gas fireplace that will burn, but has no circulating fan without hydro. that kept the living area reasonably comfortable. By the afternoon I went to the store and bought a jug of water to drink and cook. I also went to Heather's, (She's in the town and has town water), and got several pails of water for toilet flushing. We were playing cards by candlelight, when the power returned. Anyway we had called Marg. in the morning and told her we weren't going to make it. Neither did Lois & Ron or Terry, who had all planned on going. Marg phoned this morning and said that the memorial service was "Wonderful, if you can say that about such a thing". Marg said that every one of the expected relatives from up this way, called and told her they weren't coming. The main highway was closed all day at the Burlington Skyway bridge, because of the high winds. Traffic was backed up about 50KM each way from the bridge!!!! Marg said that a friend of Will's made a 45minute video of the memorial for the benefit of John and Mary Lou in Australia and New Zealand and that she would ask for a copy for us! Luckily for Marg. she did have two ladies from Elora at the Service, They had gone down a day early and stayed overnight with Marg. (They're still there) They are Marg's friend Florence Chamberland who she met when Ken & Her lived in Elora, and Kathleen Ruller. (She is Roy Ruller's widow. Roy was my cousin, Uncle Wes's son. Marg. seems to be accepting the loss of Ken very well. She said that at the memorial not one person had any regrets that there was anything that Ken and Marg had wanted to do with their lives that they hadn't gotten done. She also said that for every issue that was brought up, the standard reply she kept hearing was "It's already been taken care of". She's probably feeling some relief, Ken hasn't been very well for at least a year, and not able to get out much even before that. (Do any of you realize how hard Ken & Marg. worked to build their existence? They were just like true pioneers.) Ken was the youngest of Dad's brothers, maybe 15 years younger than my dad. In the early years (late 1920's), My Mom & Dad were buying a house in Niagara Falls, Ken boarded with them and worked at odd jobs. For a while he was a cook for the famous Niagara Millionaire, Sir Harry Oakes. I was born in 1932 and don't remember Ken being there. Later when Ken Married Marg. they lived in Fergus in a house they rented from Uncle Lloyd. they didn't have much, Ken was in the air force when their first two kids, Monty and Penny, were born. Gas was rationed, (you could only get so much), so Ken converted his old Model A Ford to start on a pint of gas and then switched over to burn coal oil, (lamp oil), that was not rationed. He drove home to Fergus frequently, from Trenton I believe. Later Ken and Marg and most if not all of their six kids lived in a tent!! All summer and into the winter on our property where I now live". IN A TENT with up to six kids. Meanwhile Ken built a house in Elora near the Quarry. What I remember most is that Ken dug the excavation himself OUT OF SOLID ROCK!! Almost everywhere in Elora the limestone rock is right at the surface. At his house it was a foot or two below the ground. The rest of the excavation, about five feet, was dug down in solid rock. I was a teenager by then and helped Ken sometimes and so did my dad. We pried up layers of limestone with chisels bars and a pick and broke the pieces with a sledge hammer. Then wheeled them out in a wheel barrow. It took all summer to dig the hole and form and pour a foundation. That was all done by hand including mixing the cement. Dad had an old cement mixer powered by one of those one cylinder four cycle gas engines called a "one lunger". dad used to do contract cement mixing and I was the main mixer operator. I mixed the right quantities of sand, gravel, cement and water by the shovel full right into the mixer. When it was mixed I'd dump it into wheel barrows and sometimes wheel it to the foundation and dump it. Big job, you couldn't do a whole foundation in one day. (I did Ronnie Watkin's foundation of his first house like that too. One time Dad contracted to build a concrete silo! The farmer had borrowed a series of three steel forms that after the first pour was set, a day or two later, you took the bottom forms off and moved them up to the top and kept going till you reached the top. In those days everybody tried to skimp on the cement in each mix. Well this one was to skimpy and the whole silo, (about the first 15 - 20 feet) collapsed. They had started the silo in a hole in the ground and the collapsed concrete almost filled the hole. We simply levelled the concrete in the hole and started again. with a little more cement in the mix. This was all before I was 16 years old, because I started a regular job when I was 16. Anyway back to Ken's house. By the end of the first summer he got the foundation in and the sub floor on. It was getting pretty cold in the tent, snowing by then. Ken sealed the sub floor with tarpaper and moved the whole family, 6 kids, into the foundation for the winter. They had a wood burning stove for heat. Temporary hydro I think. No plumbing and the kids carried water by the pail from a spring across the main highway to Fergus. In the spring Ken continued and finished the house by the next winter. I don't remember Ken working at a regular job in those days. I have no idea how he afforded the materials for the house or what they lived on. Many people in Elora remember "The Rullers" as Ken's family. There were more of them in the school that just Lois & Clyde and I. They were in school a few years later than we were. My next main recollection of Ken is in 1959, when we were already married and living on Clark Ave in Kitchener. We already had Randy and mom was expecting Tim. (Marg. made mom some maternity tops) Somehow Ken got in touch with me about helping him install the hot water heating system in a house he was building near St. Davids, near Niagara Falls. I would drive down on a Friday night, stay and work long hours all weekend and drive home on Sunday nights. Ken was never there, except early morning and at night. By this time Ken was an electrician, working for Blenkhorne & Sawle in St. Catherines, (Which later became a Sayers company when I worked for Sayers, (long story). It's now Blenkhorne/Sayers. Ken was working full time and building this house. His main job was at the Fort Erie race track where he maintained the "Tote Board" The big board that listed all the horses in each race and all the odds on them as they continuously changed as people placed their bets. In those days the letters and numbers on the tote board was displayed with hundreds of light bulbs and electrical circuits. Races were on the weekends and Ken worked overtime at every race. The site of this house was about a 35 acre Cherry Orchard. The house sat way back of the orchard at the top edge of a cliff. The view out the back was great and all orchard to the front. Again Ken had done almost everything himself. This was a big 4 bedroom bungalow, all one level with no basement. Again it sat on solid rock. This time the foundation went down to solid rock and the empty space within the foundation was filled with quarried rock that Ken got free from a quarry about a mile away. For this Ken bought an old ford tractor and a wagon and hauled rock that he quarried himself to fill the void within the foundation. On top of this he had poured gravel and then a concrete floor. By the time I first saw the house they were living in it. The floors were still bare concrete, the walls and roof were up, the frame partitions were in and the outside walls were extremely well insulated and sealed. At this time, heating was by a single fireplace in the living room, which did the job. It was heading into winter again. My job was to install a baseboard hot water heating system all around the perimeter. Ken had designed his own system and had a special Electric boiler that had been built special for him by, I believe, G.H. Woods. It resembled a big hot water heating tank with about six immersion heaters in it from top to bottom. Ken built the control panel for this system. Along with a circulating pump it worked well. (The boiler and other mechanical equipment were located in a small basement Laundry room that resembled more of a cave that was accessible at the back of the house, down over the edge of the cliff. I also helped Ken install his plumbing and well pump. I worked there for quite a long time pretty well every weekend. Ken always had a bad back, (The Ruller back), It was there when the job was almost complete that Ken announced that he had found an good back doctor in Australia and that he was leaving the next week for Australia! He did go and left Marg in charge of selling the house and most of their possessions and follow him later. (I think it was about 6 months later) The two oldest kids, Monty & Penny, didn't go to Australia but the rest did. To cut this story short I don't know much of the "down under" details, there were more houses, motor trips across the continent of Australia, Move to New Zealand, Move back to Vancouver island BC (That's when Tim & Michelle met them). I do know that in Bowser, near Parksville, near Nanaimo BC, Ken built yet another house. This was a double wide modular house set on a regular concrete foundation with a basement. They suddenly sold this house and all their possessions again and moved back to New Zealand or Australia. Eventually they moved back to Canada, this time in Sydney BC, near Victoria. I remember they said they arrived with everything they owned in 3 suitcases. This time into an existing house. When they left there for Welland Ontario, they moved all their possessions in a U-Haul including a harrowing trip towing a trailer with a car on it over the Rocky mountains. They settled in an existing house in Welland Ontario, where they were near Monty, William, (Will) and Penny. I know I've taken a few liberties with my recollections and I'm sure I've made a few mistakes. I'd like to correct them and fill out this story some time, maybe Marg'll fill me in?? Well I didn't mean to go on like this, just got started. Hope you enjoyed the narrative? That's it for now, we want to get down to visit Marg. soon and we've invited her up here whenever she wants to "Get away and talk to somebody" We're really close to Marg. I always call her "my Favourite Aunt". Dot and her are really close too. They get along very well. Love you, Keep in touch. Mel Ruller mruller@cogeco.ca E-mail to To: Randy Ruller March 14, 2005 Subject: Your Father's Memorial to Uncle Ken I enjoyed reading about your father's memories of my dad. Thank you for sending to it to me. Here are a few more details as I remember them. In the summer of 1948 we moved from Frazer Street Niagara Falls to Elora where we spent the summer in living in an old army style bell tent at Uncle Charlie's while the basement of our house was being built. Your grandmother used to let me go upstairs and play with your dad's electric train. I remember helping my dad one day remove rock from the basement by throwing it out over the top however one piece of rock I was throwing went astray and hit father on the head. In the fall of that year I had to follow your dad (who was in high school ) to school so I wouldn't get lost. As your dad said the house was finally to stage where we could move into the basement. We had an old pot belly stove (a Quebec Heater) for heat. There where many winter mornings when you didn't want to get out of bed. A back house was constructed (complete with copies of the Eaton's and Simpson's cataloges) since we had no plumbing. Aunt Rill gave me some sweat pea seeds to plant around it to make it look pretty. I strung string up the sides so the flowers would climb. It was my job to get the water from the spring down the road. I used to have to fill a copper boiler with a pail from the spring, which was located under the road and then pull it home in my wagon. One day my mother gave me a nickel for my labour. I made the mistake of taking it to school where someone relieved me of it. I was crushed. The spring provided many watercress sandwiches. The following summer father bought a small 2 wheel tractor. We spent hours following him around as he ploughed picking up rocks. We planted a large vegetable garden. When the vegetables where ready mother gave me a little black book and instructed me to go and get orders. I would do this in the morning return home and help mom pick the orders and load them into my wagon and make the delivers in the afternoon. As a treat on Sunday afternoon in the summer dad would take us to the red bridge in Salem for a picnic and swimming. While father was never openly a religious person Sunday was always a day of rest. The years during the mid fifties where hard. Father worked for while at Beatties in Fergus. He then worked for Comstock converting the hydro from 25 cycle to 60 cycle. Uncle Lloyd lent dad his trailer, which he lived in as Comstock moved from town to town doing the conversion. For a number of years we only saw dad on the weekends. He also worked for the contractor who did the electrical work at what was the new Elora High school. It was built next to the house where we lived and is now the Elora public school. I spent all my school years in Elora. Many days after school I would go to Uncle Charlie's music store where he would let me play the player piano. I used to work at Ying's restaurant waiting tables and in the summer at consision stand in the old park. In the early 1960's father purchased a piece of land on the old #8 highway between St.David's and Queenston. The land had a number of cherry trees and a small 2 room cottage on it. He sold the house in Elora and moved to this property . Once again the old bell tent went up till the house was completed enough for them to move in. |
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Last change July 7, 2005 - 16:36:26
by: Randy Ruller
Hit Count: 3,457
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Family with parents | |
William Thomas Ruller 1868–1964 | |
Ida Brothers 1875–1962 | |
Janet Elsie Minerva Ruller 1896–1982 | |
Alice Hannah Ruller 1898–1898 | |
Wesley William Ruller 1899–1990 | |
Charles Melvin Ruller 1901–1987 | |
Rilla Jane Ruller 1903–2002 | |
Lloyd Ewart Ruller 1905–1993 | |
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Kenneth Wilkin Ruller 1916–2003 | |
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