Ritchey Alvin Ruff

Ritchey A. Ruff, son of Raymond and Ialeene Ruff, was born on October 23, 1957, and died of a hemorrhage of the brain at age 56 on April 17, 2014. He is survived by his father, Raymond Ruff, Jr.; brother, Kenneth; and sisters, Christina and Karen. The family considered him the social planner and Saturday morning pancake breakfast host. He was fond of researching and publishing genealogy with his father Ray, and planning and attending family reunions, nationwide. He was an influential figure for his nephew, Cameron Kane, and nieces, Victoria Kane and Cassandra Walker and fondly known as the soccer teams’ photographer/videographer. “Uncle Ritchey” produced several motion picture videos featuring his beloved and aspiring young stars. For over a decade the family has spent Friday nights together, eating pizza and watching movies, as "Uncle Ritchey" night -- they will always cherish those times.

Ritchey was born and raised in Aloha, Oregon and graduated from high school at Aloha High School in 1975. In higher education, Ritchey earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Oregon State University, a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Ph.D. from Oregon State University in Artificial Intelligence. Naturally drawn to information and intelligence, Ritchey could be counted on knowing something about everything, as he spent much of his free time cruising the Internet where he gleefully professed, “Google is your friend.”

Ritchey’s employment experience included time with Intel, NASA, Bell Laboratories, Microsoft, WebMD, and Bill Gates. In his most recent years, his deep love of the outdoors and hiking drew him to develop a mobile application that assists hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail, where he also hiked each year and had excitedly planned a through-hike this summer. His most recent business endeavor has been with a longtime friend and former business partner as co-founder of 3Tac, LLC, where he developed mobile applications, including Starvatar and Brouwer’s Café.

Ritchey’s hobbies and interests included science fiction, reading, movies, rocketry, microbrews (he brewed some tasty brews, too), and trains. His most beloved adventures though, were on the Pacific Crest Trail. You may have passed by him in town, as he has not owned a car for over 25 years and instead walked 8 - 12 miles every day to keep himself fit and trail-ready.

Ritchey lived overseas and even owned a house in Edam, Netherlands, for a time where he adopted and brought home to the U.S. his two beloved cats, Weasel and Baboon, in 2002.

A celebration of life ceremony will be held Saturday, May 10, 2014: Reedville Presbyterian Church, 2785 S W 209th, Beaverton, Oregon, 97007 at 3 pm.

2) Saturday, May 3, 2014: McMenamins, 6179 SW Murray Blvd, Beaverton, OR (503) 644-4562 (corner of Allen Blvd and Murray Rd) from 2pm – 5pm.

The family welcomes and appreciates any contributions to a benevolence fund established at Wells Fargo Bank, nationwide, called the “Ritchey Ruff Memorial Fund.”

Please visit the guestbook portion of this site and enter a personal memory or message.

Arrangements under the direction of Skyline Memorial Gardens Funeral Home, Portland, OR.