Mr. George Washington Ruff Jr

A memorial service for George Ruff, age 91 of Thomaston will be held on Tuesday, April 25th, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at The First Baptist Church with Rev. Bill Barber officiating. His family will receive friends at the First Baptist Church on Tuesday from 10:00 AM until the service hour. Mr. Ruff died April 23, 2017. His cremains were interred at a private ceremony. Mr. Ruff was born in Rome, Ga. May 18th, 1925. He was the son of the late George W. Ruff, Sr. & Mary Lou Gloer Ruff. His widow, Anne Stevens Ruff, whom he married in 1950, survives him. His three children also survive: John Thomas Ruff and his wife, Patricia, of Atlanta, George Stevens Ruff and his wife, Jackie, of Meansville, and Mary Elizabeth Mendenhall and her husband, Mark, of Williamson. Four grandchildren, Eric T. Ruff, Steve Ruff, Kathryn Ruff, and Julia Ruff; and a great-grandson, Theo Ruff, also survive. Mr. Ruff graduated from Boys High School, Rome, Ga. in 1942 and immediately went to work as a clerk at the Navy Yard Disbursing Office at Charleston, SC. In May, 1943, prior to his 18th birthday he joined the U.S. Navy. During the War he worked in the Navy’s disbursing office at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, which at that time handled over 10,000 enlisted men’s pay accounts. He was discharged on his 21st birthday in May, 1946 as Petty Officer 1st Class (Disbursing Clerk). Following military service he continued his education on the GI Bill and was graduated from Emory University’s Business School with a degree in Finance and Accounting. While Mr. Ruff was at Emory he worked week-end shifts at the Emory University Hospital’s admitting office. This is where he met his wife, Anne. He began his business career at Celanese Corp. of America in his hometown, Rome, Ga. While working as an accountant at Celanese he taught part-time accounting courses at the Off Campus Center of the University of Georgia in Rome. In 1955 he was promoted to Chief Cost Accountant and transferred to Celanese’s Celco Plant at Pearisburg, Virginia. In May 1957 he was contacted by a representative from Martha Mills and shortly thereafter he was employed by B. F. Goodrich’s Martha Mills plant as an accountant. Mr. Ruff continued his career with Martha Mills for 30 years and retired in December, 1987, after B. F. Goodrich and Uniroyal formed a joint venture. While at Martha Mills he was promoted to the position of Controller of the Textile Division of the B. F. Goodrich Co. (which at that time operated two textile plants with annual sales in excess of $176 million). During his career with B. F. Goodrich Mr. Ruff was active in the tax affairs of the Georgia Textile Manufacturing Association and served for many years as Chairman of its Tax Committee. Mr. Ruff has served as a board member of the Thomaston and Upson County Chamber of Commerce, as an active member of the Thomaston Kiwanis Club for over 50 years serving as president (Oct. 1977 - Sept. 1978), and a past president of the United Way of Thomaston. He also taught business and accounting courses in Thomaston for the off campus center of the University of Georgia at Columbus and for the Thomaston Upson County Vocational Technical School. After retiring from Martha Mills on 12/31/1987, Mr. Ruff joined Flint River Technical Institute in 1988 as Vice President of Administrative Services and served in that capacity until 1997 when he retired at age 72. During that time he was greatly involved with the remarkable growth and expansion of Flint Tech (which is now known as Southern Crescent Technical College). Mr. Ruff served for several years as Finance Committee chairman and deacon of the First Baptist Church. George Ruff enjoyed traveling, woodworking, ham radio, his computer and IPad, bicycling, gardening, and yard work. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the First Baptist Church Foundation, 208 South Church St., Thomaston, GA 30286. Fletcher - Day Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.