Earl was born on December 10, 1928 in Freeport, Illinois to Edna and Oscar Runte. He joined the National Guard in 1948 serving in Illinois where he attained the rank of Master Sergeant. On June 17, 1949 he married Mary Ann Korf of Forreston, Illinois. He was called to active duty in 1951 to serve in the Korean conflict working Stateside as an Instructor in Intelligence. Eventually, through much study and working with his partner on a mining project at Ajo, AZ, he became a Mining Consultant to the Mining Industry.
Earl loved his family above all things, taking them on camping trips, most often to his beloved Crown King and other northern Arizona mountains, finding old forestry trails where the family enjoyed camping and exploring, learning about nature and animals, and beautiful birds.
He was a very active member of Rotary International working with the Rotary Youth Leadership Program for high school and college students. He participated in many other youth activities such as teaching Sunday school, taking kids on educational and/or recreational trips, camp outs, and sponsoring college youth.
Mr. Runte is survived by his wife, Mary Ann, daughter and son-in-law Ginny and Terry Larson, daughter-in-law Kathy Runte, 4 grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild. He was preceded in death by his two sons, Ronnie and Dale.
A memorial service was held on July 26th at the Casa Campana Community Hall and a private burial is planned for a later time at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
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