Wally is reunited in death with his sweetheart wife Catharine (Shepard) Ruch, his parents Wallace Sr. and Elizabeth (Coy) Ruch, brother Giles and his grandson, Justin Ruch. He is survived by his six children: Wallace III (Kathi) of Modesto, Stephen (Kathleen) of Sacramento, John (Leah) of Morgan Hill, Elizabeth Gates (Dave) of Cameron Park, Louise Wortham (Anthony) of Chico, and Mary Cline (David) of Modesto, seventeen grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren.
Born July 11, 1929, in Osceola, PA, Wally graduated from Utica Free Academy (high school) in Utica, New York. He received a degree in Political Science from Princeton University. Wally married the love of his life, Catharine on Christmas Day in 1951. He proudly served in the US Army in the Central Intelligence Corps both in Baltimore, MD, and Kaiserslautern, Germany. After returning to civilian life, Wally pursued and received a Doctorate of Optometry from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. In 1959, he began his optometry practice in Modesto, CA.
While practicing optometry for more than forty years, Wally and his wife Catharine together raised three sons and three daughters and were very active in the community. Wally built a sailboat; the El Toro in which he sailed with his children. There were many family camping and backpacking trips. A favorite campfire memory is when Wally would recite “The Cremation of Sam McGee” poem for his kids and later for his grandchildren. He devoted much time to both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and loved backpacking in the Sierra. For more than a dozen years he volunteered at Muir Trail Girl Scout camp where he was known affectionately by his camp name, Hawkeye. Wally loved to sing in the choir at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and his interest in good music extended to his serving as both a board member and president of the Modesto Community Concert Association. He served as president in the CA Optometric Association and was an active Kiwanis member. Wally served on the Vestry and was dedicated to helping at St. Paul’s Church together with his wife Catharine. In his retirement years, he continued to play in multiple bridge groups and was active in Sons In Retirement and enjoyed many travels.
Over the years, Wally and Catharine opened their hearts and home to many people from near and far and have certainly shared love, comfort and gratitude. In lieu of flowers, please donate in Wally’s name to your favorite charity. A celebration of life will be held at 9:30 AM on Saturday, November 2nd at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Modesto.
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