Richard Boyd Ruprecht, 100 years young, passed away at his daughter’s home in Port St. Lucie, Florida on Thursday, January 2, 2020 with family at his side. Richard was born March 16, 1919 to Margaret and William Ruprecht in Port Huron, MI. He was one of 3 children and was preceded in death by his wife, June A. (Charbonneau) and his sister, Helen and brother, Earl. Earl passed at age 2 with a fatal virus. He is survived by daughters: Susan of Port St Lucie, FL; Blondell of Sugarloaf Key, FL, and sons: Thomas of Gwinn, MI; and Richard L. of Holland, MI. Grandchildren: Jennifer & Samantha (Susan), Brett & Troy (Richard L.). Great Grandchildren: Jesse, Magnolia, Cedar and Polina. Also surviving are nieces, nephews, great and great-great nieces and nephews.
Richard (Dick) was born in Port Huron, MI and spent most of his life in the Detroit area. His father died when he was an infant in a railroad accident where his father was employed. Dick was raised by remaining family members (especially his mother and older sister) and was able to pursue a very successful career in metalworking, tool and die, and machining in the Detroit area. He also lived for shorter periods in Cincinnati, OH as a child and Gainesville, FL while in the Army Air Corps. Richard was in the officer training program at the University of Florida and in aviation pilot training. He was enlisted on Feb. 25, 1944 and served in active duty until honorable discharge on Sept. 19, 1945 at the end of WWII.
Dick was an animal lover and over the years had several cats and birds. There was not a cat he met that he didn’t like. He was well known for making friends with strays by setting food outside the door. One of the few things that angered him was animal cruelty.
Richard liked sports. He enjoyed golf and even when he was in his 80’s and his son wanted to rent a golf cart for him, he would insist on walking the course. He also enjoyed small time betting on NFL games every week with a good friend. He would bet any game, as long as he got he odds. Over the years, he did very well!
He was a great teacher of math and best building techniques (at his job and at home). He would say “if it’s not done right, it is not worth doing”. Professionally, Dick was regarded by his peers as one of the best machinists in the city of Detroit. Engineers met with him from companies such as Ford, Chrysler and Aerospace companies to discuss what he found inaccurate or incomplete on drawings for the machine projects he was doing for them where he worked at Schwartz Machine Co. in Warren.
He often had castings on his Lucas boring mill that he turned into finished products such as engine blocks for Indianapolis 500 race cars, prototype transmission cases and other exotic items for a variety of customers. In the days of no computers or calculators, he was the guy that could get the numbers necessary and setup a machine to accurately produce a product.
He never really cared for "management" assignments but was always energized with the challenge of doing precision work. His career lasted for 44 years. He still loved the work he did on the day he retired. Richard also was interested in watchmaking and repair. He did watch repair for quite some time as a sideline.
Personality: special ability to find the humor in almost all situations. Pleasant to be around. Could strike up a good friendly conversation with almost any stranger. These special traits were his right up to the end.
Regarding death, Dick wrote that he wished for his surviving family and friends to grieve for a time but not for too long. He did not believe in protracted mourning. He wished the best for all and years ago wrote for his family to "miss me but let me go" from a poem he liked.
Most notable, nothing was more important to Dick than his family and friends. He went to great lengths to stay in touch with everyone. He is and will always be missed.
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