Newspapers now charge by the word for obituaries. The ones I've seen printed are dull and boring, never quite capturing who the person was. None of us are perfect, and I wanted to capture my father, imperfections and all.
Obituary of Jon Ellis Rute
The Rute family is celebrating, After an 80-year interlude, Jon Ellis Rute will be seeing his parents again! Though we on earth will miss him, we know we will see him at the next Rute family reunion in heaven. The long-awaited reunion between father and son will be one for the books! Grandpa Ellis, will share his stories about World War 1 aviation and Dad will be able to share his experiences as a pioneer working to put the first man (and woman) into space. Dad began his career as an electrical engineer at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama where he worked among a veritable who’s who of rocket science pioneers. It was quite a coup for a new college graduate to land a job assignment designing and testing the control panels used at Mission Control Center in Houston. If you watch any movie about space history, you will see Dad's work on every control panel. His early work helped send humans into space and land on the moon. Yes, Rute family our Dad is one to be proud of, yup, he was one of the original rocket scientists!
Jon grew up in the Iowa Great Lakes Region, the son of Gwendolen Shultz Rute and Ellis Thomas Rute. Ellis Rute died of stomach cancer when Dad was just 5 years old. Soon after the funeral of his father, Dad's guardian angels had their first rescue when he and his widowed mother Gwen escaped a fire that burned down their apartment building. Other family members stepped up to help the young widow, and her young son and life moved on. Grandma Gwen was an only child, so it was up to the male members of Grandpa Ellis' family to help Dad learn those things which men generally learn from their fathers. However, there were things that perhaps in hindsight he should not have been exposed to. To help his mother financially, Dad worked at the Hi-Ho club which was a bar located on the shore of Lake Okoboji in Arnold's Park, Iowa. It was here he learned the value of hard work and that abstinence from alcohol was the best policy. In his preteen and early teen years, he spent many nights keeping drunks from drowning in the lake and cleaning barf from the bar restrooms. He also learned valuable mechanical skills such as fixing slot machines and honed his mental math acuity by adding bar tabs in his head. Tired of rescuing and cleaning up after drunks Dad worked as a busboy and dishwasher at Vern & Coila's Resturant on the west side of Lake Okoboji. After years of toiling, and squirreling his money away, Dad bought a wood boat called the "Head Ache." It was here he fine-tuned his mechanical ability, a necessity for a cash-strapped young man bent on the ownership of a speedboat. He spent many hours on the Lake honing his water-skiing skills.
When he wasn't on the lake or working, he helped his mother and Grandmother around the house. Or should I say, outside the house. Mowing the yard and shoveling snow was his domain, and as an added bonus was if he took his time, he wasn't asked to do anything else. Everyone who knew my Dad knew he never rushed anywhere, so old habits were never broken. Grandma Gwen said he spent very little time practicing his busboy and dishwashing skills at home. Living in a household dominated by women, Dad never had to do much and thought his clothes would magically fold themselves. Growing up we learned if we didn't want our clothes bleached or underwear pink, we did our own laundry. But Dad had a rare talent, he could sew. Once when I needed a dress for a special occasion, he cut it out and sewed it for me. He always said he liked hunting, but mostly he was a gun enthusiast who enjoyed shooting at inanimate targets rarely animals. He killed many cans and bottles during desert target practice. The joke was if we had to depend on Dad to grow or hunt for our food, we would have starved!
There are rumors Jon came to the attention of the U. S. Army when he installed a ham radio antennae on the rooftop of his college dormitory. Apparently, those in charge took exception to his derring-do, and he was drafted. The Army took advantage of his electronics hobby, and sent him to the Army’s Electronic Warfare School and subsequently spent two years as a microwave radio mechanic with the 193rd Signal Corp, at Fort Huachuca, AZ. For a Midwestern boy, the desert of Arizona was both exciting and HOT. He spent many hours dragging radio equipment around the desert canyons.
After the Army, Dad settled down, got married and went back to college. Jon Rute met Lois Ann Wallin he asked her to skate at the Majestic Roller Rink in Arnold's park. Little did Mom know, but Dad's career would take her to the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and Pacific Coasts and would involve 14 moves. Who would ever guess the only child of an only child would become the father of 4 children: Lori Rute Fortner (David), Christopher Rute (Mary), Jonathan Rute (Cynthia) and Andrew Rute (Gayla). He and Lois had eight grand children: Thomas, John (Katherine Martinez) and Michael Fortner, Shannon Rute Sterns (Michael), Kathleen Rute Adams (Montana), Ryan and Brandon Rute and the youngest granddaughter Ravelle Rute. The latest great-grand children roll call includes Brodie Adams, Evelyn Sterns, Eileen Sterns, and the newest great-grandson Michael Sterns. Jr. At the time of his death, Jon and Lois Wallin Rute had been married for 60 years. When he meets his brother Garry in heaven, he will finally learn how to share!
It was hard work being Dad’s guardian angel; his hobbies and work activities would cause even the most seasoned of angels to panic! In the 1966's Dad began his love affair with airplanes when he obtained his pilot's license. He spent every chance he could get enjoying the early morning sunrise from the air. Dad's job was to design missiles for the US Navy, so he spent hours aboard Navy research vessels collecting data from missile launches. In later years, he and his colleagues would fly to White Sands Missile range to blow stuff up. He also got to fly in Navy jets and watch his missiles being tested. He frequently traveled back and forth from China Lake, CA, through LA to Washington, DC. After retirement, he said he would never fly on a commercial jet again. On 911, Dad and a friend were flying around the Estherville, Iowa airport when the navigation system went down. The Navy had discussed using this technique during an attack, so Dad understood immediately something big had happened. They were told to land at the nearest airport, so they continued on and landed at Estherville, IA.
Only Dad would keep an old garage family in the front yard of his brand new house. Known to his children and neighbors as the "bug-house," the shanty/garage was a exemplified a symbiotic relationship. If only our politicians could get along as well as the junk car, sans steering wheel, new furniture, broken toilet, gasoline cans, multiple wasp colonies, and spider webs. You've probably guessed it, organization was not my Dad's strong suit. His side of a 4-car garage was packed full of stuff, most of which was never put back where it belonged. His guardian angels must have had broad shoulders to keep the shelves full of junk from falling on his unsuspecting family as they walked beneath. For not once in his 84 years, did anything ever fall off the wall, which is a good thing since they were lined with lawn chemicals, av-gas and peanut jars filled with who knows what!
Though he grew up on a lake, Dad was never much of a fisherman. He enjoyed eating fish and wild game, just not the process of acquiring it. Just before Dad died, he submitted a DNA sample which explained why he was such a big attraction to every mosquito in Dickinson County. Apparently, he inherited a rare genetic trait with the phenotypic expression of being attractive to mosquitoes. His children and grandchildren remember most fishing trips were often cut short because the mosquitoes bit before the fish. Perhaps this explains why Dad was never a gardner, hunter or fisherman?
I was taught girls could be good at math and was encourage to pursue courses in science. It is because of my father's scientific curiosity and genius that I decided to study geology and later teach mathematics in college. All four of the Rute children graduated from college with engineering and science degrees, something he was most proud of. Dad was an electrical engineer, which was both a career and a passion. For those of you unfamiliar with electrical engineering, it is said it take more mathematics to make an engineer than to make a mathematician. Dad graduated with a master's degree in electrical engineering, writing his thesis on the effects of the sun's plasma on satellites. Dad's first academic teaching job was a calculus course the local community college in California. He achieved a California teacher's certificate so he could continue to teach in California community colleges. When our family relocated to Northern Virginia Dad taught electrical and radio science courses as an adjunct. He was also a lifelong student, earning his network Certification at Iowa Lakes Community College in 2008. Dad's final educational endeavor began with his his death on Feb. 22, 2018. His body was accepted by the University of Iowa Medical school. So my Dad got his final wish to go to medical school. Even in death, Dad will continue teaching, this time anatomy to future doctors.
Jon was preceded in death by his father Ellis in 1939, his mother Gwendolen Shultz Rute in 1992, his brother Garry in 1923 and grandson Joshua Rute. Thank you guardian angels, for letting us have our father for 84 wonderful years. A life well lived!
