Gerhard “Gary” Ruschman, age 98 passed away on Sept. 5^th at Grace Assisted Living Center of natural causes.   He lived in Boise from 1944 until 2006, when he and Wanda moved to Meridian to be closer to their son. 

Gary was born Oct. 6^th 1912 in Canby, Minnesota to Joseph and Katherine Ruschman.  He was their 6^th child out of 8.  He was the last surviving child. Gary worked on the family farm until the age of 14 when he started traveling to neighboring areas to look around.  He started working construction in the 30’s and became a certified welder.  He was in both the operating engineers and the boilermakers union.

While living in Seattle and working in the ship yards, he meet his bride, Wanda.  They were married October 28^th of 1942.  Their first son Gary was born in Seattle.  They then moved to Boise in June of 1944 and there second son Ron and daughter Sue where born at St. Luke’s.  Gary work all around the Northwest including Alaska.  Some of the dams he worked on are; Lucky Peak, Brownlee, Oxbow, Hells Canyon and Grand Coulee.  He also worked on the tank farm in Boise and a lot of water towers in the area. 

Gary and Wanda lived in their southeast home off of Boise Ave until 2006.  They lived 3 years in an apartment near their home before moving to Meridian to be near their son Gary and his wife Marlyn.  He loved to pan for gold and later got into rock hunting.  He would cut and polished many rocks and loved to hand them out to friends, family, visitors and especially his grandkids.  At Grace he loved to give the staff a peace of rock he had tumbled polished.  After his retirement he would grow a huge garden and feed many friends fresh produce.  His favorite pass time would be to make trips to his sons gravel pit at least twice a week with his best friend, Martin. In the evenings Martin and Afton would play a hot game of pinochle with Wanda and Gary.  When family from back east would visit he loved to take them up to Table Rock.  He got such joy when they would hang on for dear life as they would drive up the not so good roads.  But they always loved the cross and the view.

He is survived by his wife, Wanda of Meridian; sons: Gary (Marlyn) of Meridian, Ron (Jody) of Eugene, OR; daughter Sue (Hillsboro, OR);  grandchildren: Gary (Emma) Ruschman, Vaughn (Joanne) Ruschman, Gail (Scott) Hoobler, Paul (Krystin) Ruschman, Mark (Michelle) Ruschman, Bryan Cooper and Crystal Cooper. He has 10 great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, September 10, 2011 at the Meridian Legacy Church, 1507 N. Meridian Rd., Meridian. Services are under the direction of Accent Funeral Home, Meridian.   Remembrances may be left for the family online at www.AccentFuneral.com.  Services are under the direction of Accent Funeral Home, Meridian.

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