Herbert Ruehl

Herb Ruehl passed away peacefully on January 17th, surrounded by his family and friends.  He will be missed deeply by; his three children Ted Ruehl, Jeff Ruehl (Cathy) Clea Hayes (Steven), his 6 granddaughters, Lauren & Courtney (Ted), Lindsey & Arden (Jeff) and Ruby & Della (Clea), his former wife Betty Ruehl and his longtime friend Judy Weickardt and her three children Kerrie Stewart, Tom Weickardt (Jennifer), and Kristen Gavic (Tony). The family is grateful for the care and kindness given to him by his long-serving care giver Mary Winter and the staff at Silverado North Shore Memory Care.

Herb or “Junior” as he was called by his parents was born in Milwaukee to Florence (Miller) and Herbert Ruehl on April 10th, 1931. He was preceded in death by his beloved older brother Don Ruehl (Lois). Herb graduated from Shorewood High School where he was a standout athlete, excelling in baseball. Herb was very competitive and after losing to a friend in a casual game of golf he was hooked, golf would shape the rest of his life. He was a member of North Hills Country Club for 50 years where he won 11 club championships. He consistently was one of the top golfers in the state of Wisconsin, regularly competing in both the Wisconsin Amateur and Wisconsin Open, winning the Wisconsin Senior Championship twice. He proudly displayed trophies of his many wins in Wisconsin and national tournaments. Herb would often joke his obituary should read, Herb was born, he loved golf, he died.

After graduating from UW-Milwaukee he started his career at Kelley Company in Milwaukee where he worked with his lifelong friend Bob Pfleger. He would later partner with Bob at Pflow industries in 1977. Pflow was a pioneer in the vertical lift industry. Herb took great pride in watching Pflow grow under his son Ted’s leadership to a $30MM company employing over 130 people.  Herb retired in 1994 and found a second home at Quail Ridge country club in Boynton Beach, FL.

Herb made friends easily and will be remembered for his kind and generous heart.

A memorial service will be held this spring at North Hills Country Club.

Time and place of services will be posted when decided.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Herbert Ruehl, please visit our floral store.