Sam S. Ruffalo (pictured at right from the '43 Spy) passed away on Friday, March 27, 2020, at the age of 95 years. Sam was born June 18, 1924, in Chicago, the oldest of 3 boys. At the age of 8, his beloved parents moved to Kenosha. He graduated from Mary D. Bradford High School in June 1943. He enlisted in the U.S. Merchant Marine, Coast Guard, in May 1944. He served on active duty as a Veteran of WWII in the Atlantic and Pacific War area as a Radio Officer with the rank of Ensign in the U.S. Maritime Service on vessels carrying war equipment and ammunition to troops in Europe, Pacific Islands, and the U.S. Air Force base in Manila, Philippines. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Merchant Marine, U.S. Coast Guard.
After his discharge, Sam attended college for one year at Rutgers University and one year at the University of Wisconsin classes in Kenosha after he returned home. He also worked at Great Lakes for the U.S. Navy in electronics department. His employment, thereafter, included Allstate Insurance Co. from 1953-1958, as an insurance agent; from 1958-1963 as an agent and division manager with his brother Vincent in the Prudential Insurance Company. In 1963 he became General Agent for Wisconsin National Life Insurance Company, and then as an Independent Insurance Agency Owner, Sam S. Ruffalo Associates, Inc. He received an award as a Chartered Life Underwriter professional designation by the American College of Life Underwriters in 1968. He sold his insurance agency 1981. He established a supplemental nurse-staffing agency in 1981, because his daughter was graduate nurse. He was president of NurseCall Inc., Health Staff, and Health Staff Care Professionals. He formed a number of companies in Midwestern States for nursing services. He organized and operated Physicians Group, Inc., to recruit physicians for long-term assignments to hospitals in the United States. His agency occupied some of the space in the building he built at 3380 S. 108th Street, in Greenfield, WI. He sold his companies and the building in 1996 to retire. In 2006, he authored the book, From the Great Depression to Millionaire, which is available for check out at Kenosha Public Library.
He and his wife golfed together for almost 25 years in Wisconsin. He was a member of the Westmoor Country Club. They also purchased a home in Bristlecone Pines, a golf community in Hartland, Wisconsin. Sam enjoyed community activities. He served as President of the Order of the Kinsmen in Kenosha in 1949-1950, President of the National Association of Investment Clubs in Milwaukee in 1956-1957 and President of the Hales Corners Chamber of Commerce in 1972-1973. Sam was a member of the American Legion. He was a member of St. Mathias Catholic Church with his wife, previously Holy Apostles and St. Clare North Lake. He was an altar boy at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Kenosha from 1936-1941. Sam will be greatly missed by all.
The family wishes to possibly have services at a later date.