John Paul Ruffing

LEXINGTON, MASS. — John Paul Ruffing, a native of the Marywood community south of Bellevue and a longtime resident of the Boston, Mass., area, died March 31, 2017.He was currently a citizen of Lexington, Mass., and had lived in the Boston area since the late 1950s. John was born May 24, 1928, the son of the late Mark and Stella Ruffing.John was married since 1954 to Eileen Willman, of rural Attica, who survives him. John and Eileen shared a long and loving marriage and interesting life together, and it is hard to imagine one without the other.Their children are Gregory of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Kristin of Moorestown, N.J., John of Lexington, Mass., and Robert of Lexington, Mass. John had six grandchildren whom he greatly cherished.John, along with his siblings, was raised in the rural community of Marywood as a parishioner of St. Michael's church and attended the two-room St. Michael's School. His siblings are Mark of Bellevue (deceased), William of Bellevue (deceased), Marilyn Kocher of Norwalk, James of Delaware, Ohio, Francis Albin of Loudon, N.H., and Terrence of Bellevue.John was a Korean War-era veteran of the Army. He received an honorable discharge when he was diagnosed with diabetes and due to his personal care discipline lived a long, healthy and active life.John attended Brunnerdale Minor Seminary in Canton, Ohio, and St. Joseph College in Collegeville, Ind., while discerning a vocation to the priesthood. With the advice of his spiritual director he determined his vocation was not to the priesthood and his long and happy marriage showed that this was true. In addition, he attended Notre Dame University and University of Cincinnati for a short time before earning a bachelor's degree in architecture from Western Reserve University in Cleveland and a master's degree in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As the top student in his graduating class, John was awarded an extensive trip to Europe to study firsthand the history of western architecture. John and Eileen traveled for many weeks in Europe while expecting their second child.John's interest in architecture was a continuation of the talent in art and design he showed at an early age and which was fostered at St. Michael's school by Sister Georgeann. He was a partner in the well-known Boston architectural firm of Payette with extensive work in the health care sector including University Hospital in Cleveland, Berlin, NH, Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, and other hospitals and educational buildings. He and his family lived for several years in London while managing the Aga Khan University project.John had many interests in life and lived with great exuberance. It was rare to not find him excited about something. He had an interest in books, art, music, travel, culture, bicycling and his beloved Boston. He loved to discuss, sometimes vociferously, economics and politics.