James D. Ruyak
Embraced by the deep
love and warmth of his
family, James D. Ruyak,
84, of Remer, MN, jour-
neyed to Heaven on
March 9, 2019. He had
been strengthened by
prayers and messages
from people far and wide
and was in the place he
loved most: his home.
Jim was born in Potts-
town, PA, the youngest
child of Michael and
Anna Ruyak. He graduat-
ed from Pottstown High
School in 1952 and enlist-ed in the US Army during
the Korean War. Jim used
the GI Bill to graduate
from Davis & Elkins Col-
lege in West Virginia with
a degree in Civil En-
gineering. That same year,
he married his first wife,
Barbra. His work with the
US Army Corps of En-
gineers took the family,
with four young children,
from Kinzua Dam in War-
ren, PA, to projects in
Pittsburgh, PA, Ohio, and
Wisconsin.
In 1973, Jim joined the
St. Paul District of the
USACE, incorporating
emergency response and
recovery into his career
path. For three consecu-
tive years in the mid-70’s,
as Chief of Construction,
he led successful efforts to
save the city of Minot,
ND, from disastrous flood-
ing. Jim became their
hero. He was given a Key
to the City and made an
Honorary Citizen. A local
songwriter wrote ‘The Bal-
lad of Jim.’ Ruyak Point
was named for him. His
work made network news
and The New York Times.
In 1979, Jim became
the Mississippi Headwa-
ters project manager. He
relocated to the USACE
Office in Remer, which
would become his adopt-
ed hometown. He married
his second wife, Joan, and
they immersed them-
selves in a new communi-ty, a busy school and the
‘great outdoors’ of north-
ern Minnesota. He hunt-
ed, fished, trapped and
gardened. He planted
trees, picked berries, gath-
ered maple syrup, har-
vested wild rice; he taught
Hunter’s Safety courses,
gave young people jobs,
and with his time and
conversation inspired
everyone who knew him.
His values were as high as
his goals, and he believed
that a person’s most im-
portant goal should be to
be happy.
Jim’s emergency
response work continued.
Just after the Gulf War, he
volunteered to go to
Kuwait to help restore ser-
vices and infrastructure.
By late 1992, he was the
Resident Engineer for the
rebuilding of Ali Al Salem
Airbase. A big surprise
came in his third tour,
when Jim’s son, 1st Lt.
Marc Ruyak, a graduate of
the US Military Academy
at West Point, was de-
ployed to Kuwait. Staff
helped arrange a special
reunion dinner in Kuwait
City for the two of them.
In 1994, Jim added a
new ‘career’ becoming an
EMT (Emergency Medical
Technician) because the
Remer Area Ambulance
Service needed more
volunteers. He joined
Meds1 in Grand Rapids,
too, and truly loved being
part of these teams. He
made lifelong friends and
responded to calls for the
next twenty years. A visit
to ‘Dad’s house’ meant
hearing that ambulance
pager 24/7.
Life changed dramati-
cally in 1995, when Joan
died unexpectedly. But
FEMA was tapping into
his expertise, and Jim
started travelling the
world to teach. He spent
time with his daughters
between assignments;
they now had children of
their own. In 2000, after
43 years with USACE, Jim
quietly retired. But that
didn’t last long.
9/11 prompted him to
come out of retirement.
Jim volunteered for yet
another dangerous and
faraway mission: Iraq. His
family worried desperate-
ly for his safety. But once
again, he completed three
tours of duty, spending
two birthdays, including
his 74th, in deployment.
Jim would oversee more
than 50 projects as the
Senior Project Engineer
(the ‘most’ senior, he
would jokingly say).
In 2011, Jim took a
6-month contract to assist
with staffing in the over-
seas arenas where he had
worked. That ‘short-term’
assignment became the
work he did until the end
of his life. Once again, he
became part of a success-
ful team and made more
great friends along the
way.
Jim lived a colorful ta-
pestry. His life was woven
with experiences all over
the world and in his own
backyard, deep patriotism
and dedication to country
and community, a per-
sistent desire to help oth-
ers, and a truly unstoppa-
ble enthusiasm for life. He
cherished family and
friends and pets, he loved
a hot cup of coffee in the
morning and a good meal
with good people in the
evening. His drink, ‘the
Jimlet’ became a local
favorite. He tried and
tried to play a good game
of golf. And one of his
life’s highlights was a
weekend at the 2016
Ryder Cup with his best
buddies. Most of all,
though, he treasured his
grandchildren: watching
them grow, sharing time
with them and hearing
their stories.
Jim has now joined his
beloved brother Joseph
Ruyak and the rest of his
family, his wife Joan, his
son-in-law Dan, and many
dear friends. He is sur-
vived by his four chil-
dren, Beth (Mike),
Michelle, Ann and Marc
(Kerry), eight grandchil-
dren (Robb, Sami, Nik,
Cody, Preston, Sydney,
Avery and Brooklyn),
three great-grandchildren
(Enjoli, Leah and Danny),
loving relatives and many,
many friends.
Please join us to
remember our beloved
Dad, Grampy, Great-
Grampa, Father-in-Law,
Friend and Colleague on
Saturday, March 30, 2019,
at St. Paul’s Catholic
Church in Remer, MN.
The Celebration of Life
opens at 10am with a
Mass of Christian Burial
at 11am followed by
lunch. Burial at Fairview
Cemetery in Remer is at
1pm.
Arrangements are with
Rowe Funeral Home of
Grand Rapids, MN. If you
wish, a donation in Jim
Ruyak’s honor can be
made to RAAS (Remer
Area Ambulance Service)
through the City of Re-
mer. To sign the online
guestbook or send con-
dolences visit
www.rowefuneralhome
andcrematory.com.