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Ted Ruskin

Ted Ruskin

Theodore “Ted” Paul Ruskin, whose activism mirrored the evolving face of Jewish Denver, passed away from COVID-19 on Tuesday, April 7, 2020, at the Medical Center of Aurora. He was 76. Rabbi Avraham Mintz officiated at the April 12 graveside service at Mt. Nebo Cemetery. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.

Mourners watched the service over the internet platform Periscope and also lined their cars outside the cemetery “so that Ted would not be alone,” said his close friend and executor Paul R. Thomas.

“Ted was singlehandedly responsible for getting Temple Sinai its own cemetery” at Mt. Nebo, said Sinai’s emeritus rabbi Raymond Zwerin.

“He convinced Rabbi Stanley Wagner of BMH to meet with us to discuss halachic issues, and it was decided that Sinai’s senior rabbi would be solely responsible for determining ‘Who is a Jew’ for the purposes of burial at Mt. Nebo.”

Once financial obligations between the two congregations were finalized, “Ted bought the first plot before the ink was dry,” Zwerin said.

Thomas said that Mr. Ruskin’s sense of humor “belied a profound Jewish perspective on life. He was a wonderful man, and generous to a fault.”

Mr. Ruskin was born July 15, 1943, in Brooklyn, NY. He moved to Denver in 1970 and earned an MA in business administration from Metro State College.

He worked as a business education teacher at the Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood, retiring in the mid-1980s due to advancing blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa.

Mr. Ruskin, fluent in Hebrew and a sculptural designer, worked for Norman Memorial’s for seven or eight years before opening Ted Ruskin Memorial LLC.

“His nickname was Mr. Tombstone, and he worked right up until he got sick,” Thomas said.

Mr. Ruskin helped found Babi Yar Park and started the annual Golden Hill Clean-up in the cemetery’s “Hill” section, final resting place for hundreds of JCRS patients. He belonged to the Colorado Committee of Concern for Soviet Jews.

At Temple Sinai, he was on the education committee, ran the cemetery committee for many years and sang in the High Holiday Choir.

After reading an article about Denver’s pioneering Elsner family and their daughter Rose Elsner in the IJN, Mr. Ruskin discovered that Rose was buried without a headstone in Emanuel Cemetery.

“Ted paid for Rose’s headstone himself and had it erected in Emanuel’s cemetery,” said IJN Assistant Editor Chris Leppek. “That’s the kind of guy he was.”

Mr. Ruskin, an avid student of Denver Jewish history, loved the opera and attended the Santa Fe Opera Festival for the last 28 years.

He supported the Central City Opera, Tabor Opera House, the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society, CU’s opera program and Denver Dumb Friends League.

Ted Ruskin is survived by his cousin Libby Meg Gerschansky; and nieces Stacey Lynn Schwartzwald and Randi Beth Sisti.

He was predeceased by Gary Bobb, who died of AIDS in 1994.

Contributions may be made to any opera program or company; Chabad Jewish Center of South Metro Denver; the Foundation Fighting Blindless; or Temple Sinai.

Copyright © 2020 by the Intermountain Jewish News




2 thoughts on “Ted Ruskin

  1. Dick Wisott

    Thanks for your extensive coverage of the tragic death of Ted Ruskin from the coronavirus. He was a special person who touched literally thousands of lives in the Denver Jewish community for over 50 years.

    Reply
    1. J. Barry Winter

      Ted was a good friend and a wonderful soul. I first remember him many decades ago affectionately as “Tombstone Ted” and his sense of and for humor was key that opened so many hearts, myself very much included. Having just tonite learning of his passing was quite the shock to say the least. As far as I am concerned, my dear friend was murdered by an invisible foe and not only am I deeply sad, but angry that this even could have taken place! Ted should still be alive! Ted and I had so many great shared conversations. Of course, he did a lot for the communities, but as a human and a good friend for many, he was most unique to say the least! I will miss you, Ted…

      Reply

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