Kevin Michael Ruud

Kevin Michael Ruud died March 9, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada, from complications of diabetes. A forty year resident of Las Vegas, Kevin became known for his kind interactions and clever solutions in work and friendship.

He was born May 4, 1957, in Moline, Illinois, where he lived with his parents Larry and Donna Ruud and his younger brother Kendal until the family moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin, where his sister Kirsten joined the family. They established a tradition of trips to Rocky Mountain National Park. As the big brother, he convinced Kendal that the mountain behind the cabin was high enough to lack oxygen, his way of keeping hikes to a reasonable length. He was also known to tease his sister by sending her down the laundry chute at home. This playfulness was with him all his life.

Kevin graduated from Waukesha South High School in 1975, making memorable friends through square dancing, and masterminding a series of infamous school pranks. He attended the University of Wisconsin for a year before moving to Las Vegas with his family in 1977.

He spent his first summer in Las Vegas laying railroad track at Bonnie Springs Ranch. Always talented at electronics, design, and sound engineering, Kevin toured for a time with Paul Anka, and made a successful career of various show control, design and engineering jobs. His employers included the Nevada Test Site, Mikohn, Kelley Communications, and National Technology Associates among others. His creative problem solving amazed his friends and co-workers and earned him the nickname “steely-eyed missile man.” His work in Las Vegas included high school theatre sound systems, the Mob Museum, the Cosmopolitan, the Venetian, the LINQ Promenade and the High Roller, where he designed and installed the audio visual system in the pods, a first in the world. His many projects around the nation included the Warner Brothers Studios back lot, the Cathedral of St. Helena in Helena, Montana, and the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, home of the Oscars. In addition, he served faithfully as sound engineer for his local church for many years. He was a maker of magic at work and at home.

In 1983, Kevin married his wife of 34 years, Kathy (Rhinehart), and they had three beloved children, Michelle, Amanda, and Joel. The family built wonderful memories on trips to many National Parks, Disneyland, and Disney World/Cape Canaveral. They made a treasure of memories watching movies together in surround sound, and sharing backyard barbeques and card games with friends. Kevin and Kathy shared a love of trains, travel, learning, and understated humor. After the children left home, their travel to Chicago museums, scenic railroads in Colorado and New Mexico, and the beauty of Banff and Jasper in Canada were memorable gifts.

Kevin was generally quiet and reserved but became passionate when he spotted an error of some kind or when sharing an explanation of something he knew. He knew a lot about a lot of things. He loved a good pun and a good laugh. He loved pistachios, yellow t-shirts, and being mistaken for Santa Claus. He was a person of eclectic interests and a collector of a plethora of things that reflected those interests, including astronomy and all things NASA, Disney Imagineering, trains and train magazines, woodworking and antique hand tools, and truckloads of cool and potentially useful things. Over the years, his building projects included a fort, a swing set, doll cradles, toy boxes, a step stool and, with Joel, a big red barn. He loved music of many kinds from John Denver to Mannheim Steamroller to Walter/Wendy Carlos. He was involved in community theatre, including playing his much-admired hero Ben Franklin for Super Summer Theatre, and filling several roles for the Rainbow Company.

Kevin is survived by his wife Kathy (Rhinehart), daughter Michelle White, son-in-law Michael and grandsons Caleb, Riley and Gideon, of Elko; daughter Amanda Gross, son-in-law Peter and grandchildren Wesley and Kathryn, of Fullerton; son Joel of Las Vegas; brother Kendal of Las Vegas, sister Kirsten Galutira of Las Vegas, niece Jordan Vicencio and nephews Ryan and Jake Galutira. He was preceded in death by his mother Donna Gudge Ruud in November of 2017, and followed in death by his father Larry Ruud in April of 2018.

He was a beloved son, brother, husband, father, grandpa, and friend. We will always miss our kind, jolly genius.