Gene Rutan

Gene B. Rutan, age 99 of Nampa passed away peacefully on April 6, 2021 in a Nampa Assisted Living Center. Graveside and Military services will be held under the direction of Alsip and Persons Funeral Chapel, at Kohlerlawn Cemetery, 76 6th St N, Nampa, ID 83687, starting at 1 PM on Friday, April 23rd, 2021.
Gene B. Rutan was born to Herb and Nettie (Faubion) Rutan on August 12, 1921 in his parents' home on their farm near Wilsonville, Nebraska. He always said he was raised "real blessed" by being raised in a Christian home with loving parents. He was baptized at the age of 12, along with his three brothers, Leonard, Francis, and Russell. Gene's parents believed "Once a Baptist, always a Baptist", and were active members of the American Baptist Church. He and his brothers attended the Wilsonville one-room schoolhouse and grew up helping their parents raise crops on their farm.
The Great Depression was hard on the Nation, but in 1934 the Rutan's had all the Dust Bowl they could stand, so they bid their family farewell, and loaded Gene and his brothers and what little belongings they had room for in their 1929 Ford Touring car, and headed for Idaho, where Nettie had family near Melba. They rented an 80-acre farm and started over. A kind ditch rider took the time to teach them about gravity irrigation, totally foreign from the high-water tables of Nebraska. The painful losses of the Dust Bowl were compounded in 1935, when Gene's brother, Francis died of pneumonia at 14 years old.
The Rutan's rented the McKinney farm, southeast of Melba for several years. Gene attended Melba High School, where he played basketball in the "new" gym, built in 1936. After graduation, he went on to attend one day at Boise Junior College. That was enough for him. In 1937, Gene commented that one "couldn't buy a job", but finally found something that paid $35 a month, which included sleeping in a chicken coop. It didn't take long before Gene created his own job by buying calves from local farmers and grazing them out in the sage brush. He was paid $5 a head for two months, at a time when most jobs were only paying $2 per day, plus dinner.
The fall of 1941, Amalgamated Sugar Company began to build the Nampa plant north of town, and Gene interviewed at the Dewey Palace Hotel. The week before Thanksgiving, he went to work as the 13th person hired for the Company. Just weeks later, World War II was declared when Gene was 20 years old, and he knew it was only a matter of time until he would be called up, so he enlisted on February 5, 1942 in the U.S. Marine Corps, and never had a Draft Card. At that time, most family farms had a few milk cows and sold milk to a creamery, and Gene always laughed about how much he hated to milk cows by hand, and the first day after he joined the Marines, his Dad bought a milking machine.
Gene served in the South Pacific and was gone for two years before he got his first leave. He had planned to stay in the Service, but he met and married Marjorie Lint on December 9, 1944 in California and received an Honorable Discharge on February 10, 1945. The couple moved to Nampa, where he returned to work for the Amalgamated Sugar Company. They added two daughters, Carolynn and Becky, but divorced in 1962. His daughters moved to Iowa with their mother, and Gene continued to work year-round, but seven days a week for 60-90 days a year during sugar beet harvest and processing, called "Campaign".
On December 7, 1968, Gene married Olla Jane Morrow in Nampa. He formed a close relationship with her four grown children, and by 1977 they were blessed with 12 grandchildren. They spent enjoyable times with the grandkids, including a two-week vacation that brought Gene and Olla Jane great joy. They celebrated a 20-year family reunion in 1997, and most all were there with their families, including 26 great-grandchildren.
In 1975, after many promotions with the Sugar Company, Gene was selected as the first Factory Service Manager in the Company. During Gene's time with the Company, he spent seven Campaigns on construction as a pipe and steam fitter. After 40 years with Amalgamated, Gene retired, but shortly after, he was asked to return and supervise a construction project as an Assistant Master Mechanic for a year. This involved the tearing down and moving of large machinery out of Plants in Toppenish, WA and Brighton, CO. The equipment was delivered to Nampa, where the Plant was expanded to almost twice its capacity. Until 1982, all construction at the Amalgamated Plants was done with its own employees. Until 1990, the Nampa Plant was the largest sugar refinery in the U.S., and second largest in the world.
In 1990, after 30 years on a 10-acre place by I-84, the Rutan's sold and moved to a new home on the south end of Nampa, where they lived for years. Between 1969 and 1999, they traveled 40 of the 50 States by car, train, motor home, then a pick-up and fifth wheel trailer, as Gene refused to fly. Some of their highlights included the World's Fair in Knoxville, TN, a train trip from Nampa to Washington, DC and on down the east coast to Disney World in FL, up the Alcan Highway to Alaska in 1991 (where they shook everything out of every cupboard in the camper!); Disneyland in LA, CA; and one last trip of 5,000 miles in the year 2000 to see all their kids one more time.
Gene delivered meals several times a week for "Meals on Wheels" in Nampa, and custom built a snowplow for the front of his Ford Bronco to clear snow from their street, as well as many of the surrounding neighborhoods. Retirement didn't slow him down, as Gene busied himself building personalized birdhouses and mailboxes for others. He also designed and built an old-fashioned buggy, which he later donated to the Glenns Ferry Museum. Gene also built many swing sets, merry-go-rounds, picnic tables, wheelchair ramps, fences, shelves, and more for others. Gene liked to say, "I've got to brag a little now—since 1941, I've never been out of work or missed a payday". This included the 40 years he worked for Amalgamated, and the 40 years he drew retirement from them. White Satin sugar was "sweet" to Gene.
After Olla Jane's health began to decline, they moved to the Sunny Ridge Retirement Center, even though Gene was still very healthy and active. He kept many of his tools, and built window boxes for Olla Jane's flowers, then for every other apartment. The Center had a common garden area near their apartment, so Gene was soon farming it with vegetables and flowers. As a WWII Veteran, he built and erected a tall flagpole, where he properly raised and lowered Old Glory for the next 15 years. Just after their 40th anniversary, Olla Jane passed away April 29, 2009, not long after moving there. Gene continued to stay busy, even designing and building a snowplow for the front of Olla Jane's motorized wheelchair, so he could plow the sidewalks around the apartments.
In 2017, his hometown of Melba honored Gene as a Grand Marshall of their 4th of July Parade. As with most people, the year of 2020 Corona Pandemic was hard on Gene, because the nursing home went into lockdown. He was very unhappy with the isolation, cold meals eaten alone, and total lack of social interaction, but since he still owned his car, he was able to slip out the back door and drive himself to the DQ for a strawberry shake, errands, and even to the DMV to renew his driver's license just prior to his 99th birthday last August. But by late fall of 2020, Gene called the dealership and sold his beloved car.
Gene was always very grateful for the daily visits from his personal care and Hospice nurse, Linda Reyna, and the support and business advice of Vicki Burnett, whom he had worked with and trusted over their many years working at Amalgamated. It was only fitting that when Gene passed peacefully on April 6, both of them were at his side. He was just four months and six days short of his 100th birthday. Gene always said he didn't want to live to be 100, and he was a man of his word.
Gene was preceded in death by his parents, Herb and Nettie Rutan; wife, Olla Jane Rutan; daughters, Carolynn Rutan, Bonnie Hunter Molt; brothers, Leonard Rutan, Francis Rutan, Russell Rutan; and two grandchildren. He is survived by two daughters, Becky Rutan McNamara, Sharon Hunter Mulhern; two sons; 12 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren; and several great-great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.
Memorials in honor of Gene may be sent to the Melba American Legion, 304 4th St, Melba, ID 83641; the Melba Cemetery, 401 Carrie Rex Ave, Melba, ID 83641; or to a favorite charity.

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