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Don Edward Ruckle

June 4, 2009

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.