Elmer William Ruff

Elmer was born on September 6, 1927, to William and Magdalena Ruff in Delia, AB. He attended school until the 9th grade at Kelvindale where he left to help out his Dad on the farm and to drive delivery trucks.

He moved to Calgary and drove a delivery truck, where he then met Ethel. When Elmer was 25 years old he married on January 19, 1952 during a blizzard in Calgary, AB. Four years later Elmer and Ethel rejoiced in the birth of their first born son, Darcy.

The young family moved to Stettler, AB, where he continued to drive truck. In 1960, Elmer and his family moved to Red Deer, AB. On a cold December day in 1961 Elmer and Ethel were again blessed with a second child, Beverly.

After four years in Red Deer, Elmer received a job opportunity with another trucking company called Millar and Brown in Trail, BC.

While in Trail, Elmer got involved with the local CB radio club and had the handle of “Big Mac”. Due to his quiet and shy ways he became their mascot. We don’t know where it started but whenever the club went out to party it was always Dad’s birthday. The members would encourage the local bands in the bar to play Happy Birthday and they would encourage everyone to sing.

Elmer was always patient with his wife Ethel. He would never know when he came home from work if there would be a wall or a ceiling missing in their home or if the furniture would be in a completely different arrangement. He would always help with whatever remained to be completed.

He was terminal manager there for nine years until 1974 where he received a promotion and a transfer back to Calgary, AB. Elmer was devastated when Ethel suddenly died just as he had received this promotion and was moving to Calgary in the summer of 1974.

Even though now a widower, he worked hard to ensure his family was taken care of. However, Darcy and Beverly rebelled at his cooking and vowed never to eat Shake and Bake Roast and canned peas ever again. This is a promise they have kept to this day.

Elmer remarried on June 12, 1982 to Merle whom he met while she did his income taxes. While living in a mobile home park with Merle, Elmer would regularly play crib, often winning the “huge” jackpot consisting of a couple of bucks.

At age 67 Elmer retired. However, he enjoyed being busy so he took on a part-time job with Enterprise Rent-A-Car driving cars around Alberta.

After 24 years Elmer and Merle decided to part ways so he moved to assisted care living at the Monterey Park where he happily lived getting to know all the widows and participating in some of the many events there.

After many happy years at Monterey Park Elmer needed more support and was moved to The Beverly Centre. His daughter, Beverly, approved of the location.

Elmer was surrounded by his family on the day of his passing.