August J. Rutkowski

Augie was born on October 3, 1938 in Passaic, NJ to August James Rutkowski II and Elizabeth (Munsell) Rutkowski.

He was raised in Passaic, NJ, served in the U.S. Airforce in the early 50’s as a morse code translator, he then attended and graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He married his college sweetheart Rosemary (Bridges). They were together for 52 years before her passing in 2017. In 1972 he moved to his beloved Ogdensburg, NJ where he resided until 2021 when he then moved to the Chelsea Senior Living in Sparta NJ.

He loved, cherished and served the Ogdensburg community for many years. He was an honorary fireman, town council member, mayor, First Aid responder, planning board member, historical society member, board of education member, founding member of the Sussex County Peace Officer’s Association, VFW member and committee member of the annual Sussex County Fireman’s parades. In his later years he was honored by the Knights of Columbus as the senior of the year, he was the Grand Marshall in the Fireman’s parade and he was honored as the senior of the year in Ogdensburg. Even in his final days all he talked about was the “Burg”.

He started his career at Singer Kearfott a company which supplied aviation ballistics and guidance systems to the US government. He then worked for BAE Systems in various previous forms/names, then was one of the founding fathers of MIDS being the CDM and Security Manager for MIDSCO which first brought together MIDS Nations representatives from all the countries in an offsite facility for several years before coming back to BAE. He retired in 2017 after approx 40+ years of service.

In his spare time he was well read, enjoyed playing and listening to music, flying glider planes, being a fort member, spending time at the firehouse and just being with family and friends

To sum up his accomplishments would take a novel, but mostly he was a loving husband, father, brother, uncle and a friend to all he met. He was generous to a fault, as patient as they come, an animal lover and just a gentleman in the true sense of the word. There will never be another one like him.

He is survived by his son August James Rutkowski IV and his wife Melanie, his daughter Leigh Reilly and her husband Paul. His four loving grandchildren, Trevor, Hayden, Erin and Blithe. His four sisters, Elizabeth Berberich, Merry Bulas and her husband Ken, Ellen Rutkowski and her husband Edward Letts, Catherine Cooper and her husband Robert. Many nieces, nephews and grand nieces and nephews.

Visitation for August will be held Saturday, January 14th from 1:00PM - 5:00PM at Goble Funeral Home, 22 Main Street, Sparta, NJ 07871. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Sunday, January 15th at 2PM at St. Thomas of Aquin Church 53 Kennedy Ave., Ogdensburg, NJ 07439. A graveside service will follow at St. Thomas Cemetery, 53 Kennedy Ave., Ogdensburg, NJ 07438.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his name to the Ogdensburg Fire Department P.O. Box 215 Ogdensburg, NJ 07439 or Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice.