Retired FDNY Captain and Vulcan Society member John Ruffins passes away Wednesday
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Friday, February 20, 2015, 4:32 PM
Updated: Friday, February 20, 2015, 7:21 PM
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RUFFINS FAMILY PHOTORetired FDNY Captain and Vulcan Society member John Ruffins passed away on Wednesday. He was 92.
Retired FDNY Capt and Vulcan Society member John Ruffins died Wednesday of natural causes, his family said. He was 92.
Ruffins, born in Harlem in 1923, enjoyed a 30-year firefighting career.
He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta — becoming friends with fellow Omega Psi Phi Fraternity brother and poet Langston Hughes.
Ruffins’ studies were interrupted when he enlisted in the US Army to serve during WWII, but he returned later finished his degree.
He joined the FDNY in 1952 and started as a probie at Engine 44 on East 75th. St. in Manhattan.
While there he received a Class III Medal for Heroism for rescuing an attempted suicide from under a subway train. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1962 and assigned to Engine 234 in Bed-Stuy.
In 1969 he chaired the First National Conference of Black Fire Fighters and the following year was a founder of the IABPFF, an organization dedicated to helping blacks become firefighters.
He was a proud member of the Vulcan Society, the FDNY's black firefighter association, and was instrumental in creating the Model Cities cadet program which recruited African-Americans into the department in the 1970s.
He also was a member of the Rockaway Blvd Senior Center, where he was famous for his dancing skills and was the favorite dance partner of all the ladies.
He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Katherine, and children Stephen, Paul, Kathryn, Jeannette and Mark, as well as grandchildren, Elizabeth, Shante, David, Joy, Robert, Ishara, Eugene and Anitamarie and one great grandson Aiden, the newest member of the Ruffins clan.
He is also survived by his brother Reynold Ruffins of Sag Harbor, L.I., son-in-law Robert and daughters-in-law Serena and Faith and numerous nieces and nephews.
A viewing was held Friday from 3 to 8 p.m. at St. Stephens Church on 168 St. in Jamaica.
The funeral will be Saturday at 9 a.m. at St. Stephens Church, and the burial will follow at Flushing Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that people make a donation in his name to the Vulcans Scholarship Fund.
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