Born: October 6, 1950 - Deceased: January 26, 2021
Michael Ruemmler, 70, of Saint Louis, MO, born Friday, October 6, 1950 in Mt Vernon, IL, passed away Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at his residence in Saint Louis, MO.
He was preceded in death by his:
- Parents: Robert F. and Barbara A., nee Trefftzs, Ruemmler
- Brother: Robert Ruemmler
- Sister: Lizabeth Ruemmler
Left to cherish his memory are his:
- Sister: Kathy (Tom) Lewis of O’Fallon, IL
- Nieces and nephews
- Alexander Lewis
- Andrew (Kasi) Lewis
- Beth (Kramer) Patterson
- Dr. Rebecca (Steve) Medeiros
- Joshua Ruemmler
- Zachary (fiancée, Alyssa) Ruemmler
- Rachel Ruemmler
- Great niece due in May
He will be greatly missed by his cats Pele, PopTart, Soska, and Gregor.
Special Thanks: Our family would like to thank Mike’s friends Bob, Ed, Norma, Rick, and Patrick for all their support during this time.
Mike was born in Mt Vernon, IL but spent most of his childhood in Washington Park, IL. As a young boy, Mike always had some sort of pet in the house, lizards, snakes, fish, hermit crabs, hamsters, gerbils, an iguana, he even captured a field mouse once and named it. Cats were his passion and love later in life.
After High School, Mike attended and graduated from SIU Edwardsville with a BS in Music and minor in Biology. As his sister, Mike taught me a lot about Music and Science. He had a beautiful tenor voice and I was privileged to sing many duets with him. He lead music in several churches and eventually went on to receive his Master of Divinity from Midwestern Seminary.
As a brother, he was always very supportive and proud of all my endeavors. He always encouraged me to do my best and was willing to help me achieve my goals. He also included me in many of his basement Science experiments. He would try to teach me basic Science lab techniques which often ended in laughter or running to get something to clean up the mess. There are many stories about close call Science experiments.
There was not a hobby or a subject that he did not dabble in at one time or another. He loved photography, music, theatre, astronomy, gardening, cooking, robotics, electronics, calligraphy, traveling, reading, walking, and hiking just to name a few.
He was always looking for something new to learn and explore. He loved adventure and often invited others to join him. His love for rollercoasters took him to many amusement parks throughout the country. I was fortunate to join him on several of those adventures.
He held several degrees including a BS in Music, Master of Divinity, Master of Social Work, and a Paralegal degree. His degrees took him many places including Nashville, Tennessee where he worked as a WATS line salesman for the Benson Music Corporation. There he set a sales record that still stands to this day. His goals were simple…do your best, be the best at what you do.
He recently retired from BHR as a Crisis Intervention Counselor. He was enjoying retirement immensely. Mike was a kindhearted soul who never met a stranger and was a friend to all. Even as a child, my parents told stories about Mike striking up complete conversations with strangers even at stoplights and that was to share he had a new baby sister.
He will be missed by family and many friends.
Memorials: Memorials may be made Northeast Abyssinian Rescue. neabyrescue@yahoo.com <mailto:neabyrescue@yahoo.com>, or St Louis Cat Network
Funeral: Private family services. Interment at Lake View Memorial Gardens, Fairview Heights, IL at a later date.
12 Comments
I’m so sorry for your loss. I was friends with Mike for many years. He trained me in the field at Family Services in ’95. I learned a lot from Mike. Mike was a very good friend and confidant, always eager to help. I was lucky to reconnect with him in recent years. He will be truly missed.
Mike was a wonderful gentleman who radiated excitement and joy when he spoke or wrote about his passions. I will so miss him, and I thank you for sharing with us a bit more about Mike’s very interesting life.
One of the good guys
My deepest sympathies to his family. I was lucky to call Mike friend.
I always thought of him as a blessing. When I went to his Facebook page and saw the outpouring of grief, I realized how blessed he was.
He made An impression to all who knew him. You’ll be missed my friend.
Mike will be greatly missed. He was a wonderful man.
I worked with Mike for several years and remained friends even after our work time ended. He was a gentle and compassionate man, and he reached out to me often to encourage me as I experienced great loss in my family. He was funny and quick witted and always made me laugh. He impacted many foster kids and families and people in crisis through all of his social work career. The world is a better place because Mike was in it. My deepest condolences to his family and friends in his loss.
So sorry for your loss. I worked with Mike for years at CD. We were members of the TDM crew. He even was the officiant of my wedding. He will be dearly missed along with his post of his beloved cats and walk adventures throughout St. Louis.
I very much enjoyed working with Mike at BHR. He was always so bright and patient and a joy to be around. I know he has touched so many lives positively. God Bless him.
Mike will be dearly missed. He was a kind man and I am glad to have known him. I am deeply sorry for the family’s loss.
Heartfelt condolences to the family. Mike was a good friend, co worker & we got a kick out of sharing the birth month, Oct 6 & Oct 8 respectfully. Mike was very accommodating as one of the main facilitators…I could send him anywhere…lol. More than anything is was a good friend, not take in any
way & very generous. He seemed to have a 6th sense about some things. I will be forever grateful
for that friendship he showed me when my son died. May your soul rest in peace my friend, you will be sorely missed.?
My condolences! Mike was one of my supervisors at Missouri Children’s Division over 14 years ago. Mike was an awesome supervisor and all around great guy. After Mike retired we reconnected via FB and I enjoyed all his stories he posted about cats and etc.
Rest In Peace Mr. Ruemmler!
I miss Mike so much. I worked with him at BHR and stayed in touch. I loved the pictures of his walks. I looked at every post and enjoyed. Stupidly, I thought they would continue forever. Mike also volunteered for our nonprofit, Pound Pals. He transported cats, sometimes driving for hours. He saved their lives. When I thanked him, he would always brush it off and say he wanted to hike in that area anyway. I am sorry I did not have more time to know Mike in retirement.