ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 30, 1997 TAG: 9703310093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER THE ROANOKE TIMES
The former president and board chairman of Rainbo Bread Co. thoroughly enjoyed life, his wife said.
Former Rainbo Bread Co. President W. Earl Ruble, who started working at the bakery as a teen-ager, died Saturday after a brief illness. He was 83.
In 1928, when Ruble was 15, his father, C.W. Ruble, and two partners bought what was then the Maddox & Jennings Bakery. Ruble would head to the bakery on Central Avenue after school and work well into the night.
"I did the full job of a man," Ruble said in a 1993 Roanoke Times & World-News story.
He greased pans and shaped hamburger and hot dog buns by hand. Later, Ruble also helped bake fruit and meringue pies and delivered them on his motorcycle, which had a rack that held 54 pies. One day on the delivery route stood out in his mind.
"I had just delivered two pies to City Lunch when I saw a pretty girl on the other side of the street," he said. "The car in front of me stopped, and I piled into the back of it."
Fifty-two pies ended up rolling to Salem Avenue.
"He could tell a lot of stories, and he told a lot of them on himself," said Juanita Ruble, his wife of 60 years.
He stayed on at his father's company even after it was sold to a Kansas City company in 1935 and renamed Rainbo Bread Co. of Roanoke.
He was president and general manager for 20 years, retiring from the post in 1978. He then served as chairman of the board until 1984.
In retirement, he enjoyed fishing, hunting, playing golf and spending time with his children and grandchildren, Juanita Ruble said.
"He enjoyed living," she said. "I've never known anyone that enjoyed living more than he did."
In addition to his wife, Ruble is survived by a daughter, Nancy Perry, and a son, Richard Ruble, both of Lynchburg, and six grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church.
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