John Leland Wulff

Dr. John Leland Wulff, age 83, passed away Saturday, December 26, 2015 in his

Sacramento home. John was born March 19, 1932 in Oakland, CA, the son of Leo H.

Wulff and Ruth J. Wulff.

John grew up in Hayward, CA with his folks. After high school the Wulff family moved to

a farm in Elverta, CA. The value of physical labor along with discovering his love of

leather work started on this farm. Aside from his regular duties on the farm, John also

raised prized hogs which helped pay for his college tuition.

At the age of 23 John started working on his graduate and doctorate degrees at UC,

Davis while simultaneously teaching mathematics as adjunct professor at CSU,

Sacramento. In 1966 he was amongst the first class to graduate with a doctorate of

Mathematics at UC, Davis. It was here that he was chosen to be a member of the nonprofit

honor society comprised of scientists and engineers, Sigma Xi.

John became known as one of California’s leading mathematics professors. His

passion of teaching opened the minds of many students which helped them to

recognize and nurture their own talents which ultimately lead many into careers of

mathematics and science.

In July 1968, John married the love of his life, Ruth Ann Tortora. Their union took place

at Saint Marks Church in Sacramento. John and Ruth started building their life together

in 1967 by remodeling the home they later expanded upon with their own two hands in

order to accommodate their soon-to-be growing family of four children. In this house

they remained married until Ruth’s death from cancer in August of 2015. Ruth and John

spent many happy years together, sharing their love of travel and entertainment.

In addition to spending time with his family, John maintained a large variety of hobbies.

He was a perfectionist and excelled at them all. Aside from creating boutique items

from leather (purses, wallets, belts, holsters, etc.) his hobbies over the years included

building small-scale real versions of cars, planes and various sceneries, reel-to-reel

movies, photography, stamp collecting, coin collecting, boating, fishing, camping, and

construction which later turned into a fruitful second job for nearly two decades. After

teaching at Sac State for 40 years, Dr. Wulff retired and decided to focus on his

business, Wulff’s Stamps, full-time with his son, Leland Wulff. For 26 years father and

son sold stamps to collectors around the world while cultivating relationships with

people that had become to be some of his closest friends.

John will always be remembered as an honest man with unshaken integrity and loyalty

not only to his family, but also to every person he met through his journey in life.

John is survived by his four children; Leland J. Wulff with wife Tanya Wulff, Nancy

Francis with husband Joe Francis, Susan Wulff, and Karen Ruggiero with husband

Paolo Ruggiero along with ten beautiful grandchildren; Travis, Casey, Baylee, Brandon,

Kaylynn, Aaron, Lucio, Cameron, Joey and Alessia.

A funeral service honoring John’s life will take place Tuesday, January 5th, 12 noon at

Mt. Vernon Memorial Park in the Family Chapel. The service will be led by Pastor Clark

Crebar concluding with an escort to his committal by Pall Bearers: William Boom,

Richard Clever, Jim Dempsey, Stanley Estabrook, Peter Gutter,Tom Kinberg, Anthony

Spearman and Jim Taft to his final resting place.

A viewing is scheduled Monday, January 4th from 4:00-7:00pm at the Mt. Vernon

Memorial Park in the Washington Room for those who are unable to attend the service.

Memorial donations can be sent to the Wulff Family c/o Mt. Vernon Memorial Park,

8201 Greenback Lane, Fair Oaks 95628 (916) 969-1251.