Doc Democracy

To those who many not have heard the news yet, Scott Ruggels recently passed away after a long battle with failing health. I've pasted a note from his sibling below.

To Scott’s Dear Friends and Family, It is with great sadness that we let you know that Scott passed away on Wednesday, May 29th, 2024. He had just turned 60 in April, but his body simply gave out after several years of increasingly bad health. This is his younger sister, Michelle, here writing and capturing reminiscences from Scott’s family. When we think about Scott, it is his unflappable good nature that stands out, and the fact that he was always 100 percent himself. I don’t know that he could have been any other way, but I don’t believe he wanted to, and for that we each have had the honor of knowing and loving the real deal- kind, honest, deeply loyal, curious, smart, talented, and quirky. As a child, he grew exceptionally long sideburns, wore button-up shirts (or military gear) in lieu of t-shirts, spent hours building model planes (and BTW, there wasn’t a military plan he couldn’t identify), and carried his pet rat, Rosie, around on his shoulder. In the school subjects that interested him, his knowledge was on par with his teachers, and in the subjects that didn’t interest him, well why bother? Layered over and under all of this was his art. Scott was rarely without a sketch pad, and incorporated perspective into his drawings by three. In fact, many of you probably know him through his art, in one form or another, or his strong connection to gaming, or maybe shared his interest in military history or making movies. To his friends from Palo Alto to Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and even Japan, you were so dear to him. Our sadness is that he won’t be able to see you again. You really meant the world to him and shared so much kindness through the years. To his far flung gaming friends, (Australia), you also played a very meaningful part of his life, if not just all day every Saturday! And to the rest of you that we don’t even know, you all sustained his joy in life through your common interests. And to his family (and friends) in Kansas even though you rarely saw him in person, you were the foundation of some of his fondest memories. On behalf of his family in Santa Rosa, San Francisco and Spain, please join us in raising a toast to Scott (his preference would be diet Dr. Pepper) to honor his life! We don’t have Scott’s passwords, so can’t get this message further than Facebook, or call anyone individually. Please forward this message. If you would like to contact his family, please feel free to email me at michelleruggels@gmail.com, his brother Craig at cruggels@sbcglobal.com, or his mom, Susie, at ruggels@aol.com. As we sift through his belongings, if you would like to have a drawing or sketchbook, or if there was something specific that you shared together, please do contact us and we will do our best to get that to you.