Lewiston Morning Tribune - October 2, 1953
Rukaber Rites To Be Saturday
Funeral services for John Rukgaber, 81-year-old Lewiston resident who was killed Wednesday morning when his car plunged into the Clearwater River near Spalding, will be held at 10 tomorrow morning at Brower-Wann Memorial Chapel with the Rev. Norman L. Gardner of the First Assembly of God Church officiating.
Burial will be at Normal Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Rukgaber, who resided at 603 6th Ave., was born Oct. 3, 1871, at Germania, Pa., and lived there until 1893 when he moved to Lewiston. In 1905 he moved to Headquarters were he homesteaded land. He returned to Lewiston in 1912 to work for the Inland Meat Co. He then bought a ranch in the Cottonwood Creek area, but sold out in 1914 and returned to Clarkston, working for Dill Brothers Meat market.
Mr. Rudgaber worked from 1926 to 1937 for the Lewiston Cooperative Association, then bought out the old Baby Beef Market, changing its name to John's Market. He still owned the building on Main St. at the time of his death, along with a farm near Orofino and real estate at Lewiston. He retired in 1941. He was a member of the Assembly of God Church and had belonged to the IOOF for 50 years.
Surviving besides his two sons, Ward J. Rukgaber of Darby, Mont., and Howard L. Rukgaber of Seattle, are two sisters, Mrs. Mary Daggett of Horseheads, N.Y., and Mrs. Libby McKay, Everett, Wash.
Transcribed by Jo Frederiksen