Nicolas proudly served in the United States Army straight out of high school. He learned several different skills and trades while stationed overseas. One of the trades was cutting hair, which he did professionally for some time in his younger years. He moved to Victoria in the late 70’s, and in 1980 he married Maria Guadalupe Ruiz, with whom he would spend the next 46 years with. Shortly after his marriage he obtained a CDL and began a career driving a commercial truck for Mrs. Baird's Bakery. He did that for many years, and even stayed on with the company after they sold out and moved their operations to Houston. He retired from the company in the early 2000’s, but couldn’t stay at home without work for long. He dusted off his CDL and began working for the Victoria Transit Company for many, many years, where he met countless people and enjoyed staying active. After his dedicated service to the Victoria Transit Company he finally hung up that chapter of his life and officially retired for good. He enjoyed the latter part of life spending time with his friends on their routine coffee visits, spending time with his family, sitting outside on the porch waving at everyone who drove by, and he will always be remembered as Tito.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Maria Guadalupe Ruiz; daughters, Maria Dolores Ruiz of Victoria, Debbie Delfina Ruiz of Houston; sons, Nicolas G. Ruiz Jr. and fiancé, Elizabeth, Jose Guadalupe Ruiz and wife, Jamie, Jesus Antonio Ruiz and wife, Michelle, all of Victoria; sister, Janie Tamez and husband, Abraham of Corpus Christi; brothers, Steve Ruiz and wife Kitra of Schulenburg, Jesus Ruiz of Victoria and Tony Ruiz and wife, Angie of San Marcus. Nicolas also leaves behind 13 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren to cherish his memory.
He is preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Gloria Ruiz, Mary Ellen Ruiz; brother, Joe Ruiz and cousin, Elias Perez, who was like a brother to Nicolas.
A Memorial Service will be held at Trinity Episcopal Church at 10am on August 7th, 2026 with a reception immediately to follow.
Burial of ashes will be Friday, August 7, 2026 at 1:30 pm at Resurrection Cemetery.
