Obituary of John Stephen Ruebke

On October 4th, 2015 John passed away surrounded by family. He was born to John Lee and Cecilia Marie (Mezzanares) Ruebke, January 23rd, 1952 in Sacramento, California. At the age of 9, the family moved permanently to North Idaho. John attended elementary school in Silverton and graduated from Coeur d’Alene High School in 1971. After high school, John had some exciting adventures in Arizona and Florida before returning to Idaho, where he met his future wife, Jeanne Fitzsimmons. They were married June 28th, 1975 in Coeur d’Alene. John graduated from North Idaho College with a degree in Forestry. He began his career with the US Forest Service on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest and, 38 years later, was still working for them at the time of his death. John loved his work and the Forest Service became his extended family. John and Jeanne have two daughters, Brianna and Kelly, who John adored and they became the focus of his life. Over the years, John developed a variety of interests; some of which included: micro brewing, bowling, coin collecting, stamp collecting, scroll sawing, and camping. Cooking was another one of his great pleasures. He would cook both indoors and outdoors. During the summer, John would make use of the family’s cooking pit, and during the winter he would make several of his family’s traditional Italian recipes all while watching football and basketball. The 49ers, Seahawks, and Gonzaga’s wins directly correlated to the quality of the meal. John was preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his wife, Jeanne, daughters Brianna (20) and Kelly (16). He is also survived by sisters and brothers-in-law Linda and Reg Jensen of Vancouver WA, Nancy and Rick James of Spokane, WA and Mary and Dan Shepard of Old Town, ID as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Graveside services will be on Tuesday, October 13th 2015 at 10:00am at St. Thomas Cemetery, S 23rd St, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814. Because of John’s love of the outdoors, afterwards all are invited to a celebration of John’s life at the Beauty Creek Campground. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Community Action Partnership Food Bank, 4144 W. Industrial Loop Coeur d’Alene, Idaho 83815.