Robert F Ruger

Robert F. Ruger, whose decades of government and community service earned him the affectionate title of Mr. White Plains, died Thursday, evening January 7, 2010 in the same Prospect Street home where he was born. He was 97.
A 1931 graduate of White Plains High School, Ruger earned a degree from Rutgers University and spent 40 years as a finance executive at Dun & Bradstreet. Unmarried, and without children, Ruger devoted his boundless energy to a seemingly endless number of activities that had one common goal: to improve the city he loved. Ruger served on the board of Westco Productions, a theater group for family audiences founded by Katz. In the public arena, Ruger was a Republican member of the Common Council from 1976-87. He also served as chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals. At various times, he served on the Committee for the Disabled, the Personnel Committee, the Audit Committee, the Capital Projects Board and the Charter Revision Committee, among others. His last official city position was chairman of the Traffic Commission, which he gave up last year after a run of almost three decades.
Ruger was even more active outside of government, serving in various leadership capacities on groups ranging from the Rotary Club to the White Plains Beautification Foundation to the United Way to the Salvation Army. Others included the Westchester Drama Association, the YMCA, the Thomas H. Slater Center, the Senior Personnel Employment Council, the White Plains Tigers Fan Club, United Presbyterian Church and the White Plains Historical Society.