Ruoho never forgot Vietnam

Ray E. Ruoho wrote an autobiography, sales of which raise funds for a school for people with disabilities in Vietnam. Ruoho died in October after a long battle with Lewy body dementia. He was 79 and lived in Duluth.

Born in Little Fork, he attended Orr High School and Virginia Junior College. He studied electronics at Dunwoody Industrial Institute in Minneapolis and received his bachelor’s degree in education at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and master’s degree in education from the University of Arizona, Tucson.

His career included teaching electronics at Tucson high schools, and as in coal and copper mining in Wyoming and Arizona.

Ruoho was a Vietnam veteran and received medals including the Army Commendation Medal for setting up protocol for prioritizing transportation of wounded to available facilities during his service in 1965-1966.

His autobiography, Minnow, is about his growing up in northern Minnesota in the 1950s and 1960s. Proceeds from the book, which is available on Amazon, go to the Nguyen Nga Center, school for the disabled in Quy Nhon, Vietnam, which he visited and assisted with on a visit there in 2010. The school was dear to his heart and a large part of his life after the trip back to Vietnam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB9FM02ubNM

Ruoho is survived by his wife Bea, three children and their families, and many nieces and nephews. Services have been held. Memorials preferred to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, www.lbda.org.