Don Ruckle, born Feb 16, 1929
at St Pauls Hospital Vancouver,
passed away early June 4 in his 81st year. He is survived by Mary, his wife of 60 years and sons Dale (Pam) Dwain (Cathy) and daughter Tani (Michael) along with 3 grandchildren.
Don arrived in Quesnel, with
his young family in the fall of
1954, after working for a few
years with local contractors,
Don received his Class A
Electricians rating. The current
inspector Mr. Peter Knight
persisted in badgering Don to
“go on his own”.
Don incorporated “Service
Electric” around 1960. His
first shop was on land
expropriated for the Moffat
bridge. The business then
moved to Two Mile Flat where
it continues to exist. In the early 1970s after completing the new West Fraser Mill Don, in his early 40’s became restless and with only Tani left at home they purchased a lakeshore lot in Osoyoos and built their dream home. Service Electric was left in the hands of Richard Mannering.
Upon settling in Osoyoos Don
took assorted jobs in his trade,
work at a nearby mine and
with an Osoyoos contractor.
Soon tiring of that, he found
fulfillment and some income
as a chargehand for various
orchardists and grape growers.
In this context, Don made
many deep and meaningful
friendships but gave up that
work in the last seven or
eight years as his heart grew
weaker. Never interested in such pastimes as golf,
Don’s later life interests included wilderness expeditions such as the Bowron chain several times and mountain goat hunting with his very expert inlaws. Don’s biggest passion was literature and journalism, he always kept up with subscriptions to the likes of the “Guardian Weekly”, “The Walrus’,’ “Harpers”, “The Humanist”, “Mother Jones”
and “The Economist” and had
long since dispensed of every
word in Charles Dickens’s opus.
During the last three months
Don endured end stage
congestive heart failure never
gaining the strength to get
back home.
Don was a self-made man of
uncommon integrity. During
his time in Quesnel, he served
as an ideal mentor, guiding a
not-so-small group of young
locals into and through the
electrical trade.
Don’s body has been cremated,
no service by request.