Obituary of John Rucker in the "Alpharetta Free Press," Febuary 8,
1918:
"Uncle John Rucker Is Dead"
"We call him Uncle John, not only
because he was the Editor's own uncle but because all the people in these parts
lovingly called him Uncle John. He was good to everybody, and everybody was good
to him. His life was one of service to all the people that he touched, and as
along as memory lasts he will not be forgotten.
"At the ripe age of
seventy-five, without a day's sickness, John Rucker died last Friday afternoon
at seven o'clock at his home three miles west of Alpharetta. After dinner he
started up to Crabapple to do some trading for his daughter, Miss Jennie. When
about three hundred yards away, he was made conscious of the fact that he was
going to be sick, and he turned back home.
"From that time till within
five minutes before he died he was sick but not abed. At 7 o'clock he went to
bed, complaining of being cold, had a paroxysm of pain about the heart, and
passed away.
"Saturday afternoon, Mr. Sanford Bruce of Marietta, a
favorite nephew by marriage of Uncle John's, came up and made the plans for the
interment. A cement vault was built in the family burying ground three hundred
yards south of the old home and there, beside the grave of his wife, who died
twenty-two years ago, he was laid to rest Saturday afternoon, the funeral
service being conducted by Rev. Charles Fletcher Hughes, pastor of the
Alpharetta Methodist Church. Although the weather was inclement and the roads
almost impassable, a large crowd of neighbors and friends gathered at the home
to do honor to his memory.
"No man that ever lived in Milton County had
more true friends than Uncle John Rucker. His big heart and open hand drew all
men to him.
"Surviving him are five sons, one step-son, three daughters,
and many grandchildren. The sons are--R. L., W. D., J. J., J. S., and Geo. N.
Rucker; the step-son is T. J. Jameson; the daughters are Mrs. W. S. Broadwell,
Miss Jennie Rucker, and Miss Frankie Rucker. He has hundreds of other relatives
in this and adjoining counties.
"John Rucker was a Confederate veteran,
and his old comrades loved him dearly. After the Civil War he came home and
married and settled down near the old Rucker home to which he afterward moved.
There he has lived these years.
"He was a progressive, moral citizen,
giving the weight of his influence to the good side of the question. For many
years he was a member of the county board of education and served the county
well. He was one among the first to buy LIberty Bonds when our government needed
funds to prosecute the war. He was never a slacker in any thing. but believed in
doing his duty. He was courageous and considerate and as tender and sweet as a
woman. He was the last of the older generation of the Ruckers, and non others of
the name willl have to be known as the older ones.
"Sweet be thy sleep, old gentleman, and may thy Virtues be imitated by
us all." -
-William Derrell Rucker, Editor
[Note: John Rucker, son
of Simeon Bluford Rucker and Jane Barnwell, was born December 23, 1842, Cherokee
Co. (later Milton), GA, and died February 1, 1918, Milton Co. (later Fulton),
GA.. John's wife was Sarah Catherine Hembree, widow of Thomas Jefferson Jameson,
Sr.
Simeon Bluford Rucker was the son of George Rucker, Sr., and
Catherine Ehart and the grandson of Thomas Rucker, son of Peter Rucker, the
Immigrant
William Derrell Rucker (1867-1922), Editor of the "Alpharetta
Free Press" in Milton County, GA, was the son of John Rucker's older brother,
Joel Rucker.]
Submitted by Suzanne Thornton Coker, August 30, 1999
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