Jack Lee Rucker

His memorial service is scheduled for 2pm, Saturday, November 10th at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 15315 West 151st St, Olathe, KS 66062.

He would like donations in his memory sent to (Shriners Hospital for Children, Virginia Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84103).

He was born on August 6, 1914 in Lostine, OR.

He is survived by one brother Louis Rucker and his wife Aliene of Arlington, OR; A son, Roger Rucker and his wife Ruth of Olathe, KS; A daughter, Loretta Burnham and her husband Blaine of Placitas, NM; 3 grand daughters, one grandson, and 2 great granddaughters.

His wife of 67 years, Olah (Harder) Rucker passed away at the age of 91 in 2006.

Jack was a farmer, welder, auto mechanic, auto body repairer, teacher, and administrator during his career. Jack grew up with a family of 4 brothers and 2 sisters on a dry wheat farm in the hills of Eastern Oregon. His family used as many as 75 head of horses to work the farm. They lost the farm during the depression so Jack hitchhiked to Pocatello, ID to attend Auto Mechanic and Auto Body Repair at the Vocational School. He met his wife Olah Harder at the school and they were married in 1939. They moved to Long Beach, CA where Jack took welding classes and found work in the ship yards. They moved to Shelly, ID to work with Olah’s father on his potato farm on the Snake River in 1941. They left the farm in 1954 and moved to Pocatello in 1955.

He moved to Pocatello, ID to take a position as Body and Fender instructor at the Idaho State University School of Vocational –Technical Education in 1955. He was appointed Assistant Director in 1961 and Director in 1964. He retired as Director in 1977. He added 12 new programs and tripled the size of the Vo-Tech School when he was the director.

After retirement Jack and Olah bought a travel trailer and put over 200,000 miles on it traveling all over the US and Canada. They joined a caravan trip to the Panama Canal and back in 1979. The trip took over 2 months. They enjoyed touring farms on a trip to China.

He was past President of the Pocatello Kiwanis Club, Pocatello Shrine Club, member of Lodge 18 AF&AM. He was a member of the Pocatello Chamber of Commerce. He was inducted into the Chamber of Commerce’s Pocatello Chiefs with the title (Chief Teach’em Trades). He was awarded Volunteer of the year by the Chamber of Commerce in 1990. He was an active member of the United Presbyterian Church and served as an elder and Superintendent of Sunday School. He helped raise money for the Bannock County Historical Society to build a new Bannock County Museum. He restored a stage coach that sat in the Pocatello Airport Terminal for years before being moved to the museum.

He became famous for being a Shrine clown, his metal yard art, animal wood carvings, and jokes over the last 20 years. He and Olah moved to Olathe, KS in 2006 to be closer to family. Jack loved his family and being able to make people laugh.