Alvin Matthews Ruddick, age 87, resident of Ft. Scott, KS, died Monday, November 23, 2020, at the Cox Barton County Memorial Hospital Emergency Room in Lamar, MO.
He was born January 13, 1933, in Kansas City, MO, the son of Alvin Earl and Mary Olivia Matthews Ruddick. He graduated from FSHS with the class of 1950. Al graduated from Drury College in 1954. He was President of the Beta Iota Chapter of Kappa Alpha Order at Drury.
He married Betty Pauli on July 16, 1955, in Kansas City, MO
. In 1953, Al purchased a cabin at the Lake of the Ozarks. The lake became an integral part of Ruddick family life. Al enjoyed fishing and skiing. He hunted elk in Colorado for 25 years. He bred and sold 92 English Pointers.
Al took over the Ruddick’s family furniture business, Ruddick’s Inc. in 1954 when his father retired. He sold the business in 2000. He was past President of Kiwanis Club (1954), past President of the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce, a member of the NRA, and served on the U234 School Board for 8 years. He served the Kansas State Commerce Division and the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Mercy Hospital Endowment Board. He was a member of the Masons, the Shriners, and the Scottish Rite. Al was a member of the First United Methodist Church and participated in numerous committees and the church choir most of his adult life.
Survivors include his wife Betty, Ft. Scott; four daughters, Lori Ruddick, Nevada, MO, Lisa Rucker and husband Ron, St. Louis, MO, Linda Burger, St. Louis, MO, Leslie Ogden and husband Chris, Lee’s Summit, MO; seven grandchildren Jeremy Ruddick, Abby Simmons, Haley Trainor, Aaron Rucker, Samatha Burger, Nick Ogden, and Hannah Ogden; and two great-grandsons, Cooper Ruddick, and Jackson Simmons.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Due to COVID-19, private family services will be held with burial following in U. S. National Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to the First United Methodist Church and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, PO Box 347, 201 S. Main St., Ft. Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.