On Friday afternoon, a firetruck stood outside the St. Louis Police Officers Association on Hampton Avenue bearing an American flag. Surrounding the truck were police officers, firefighters, and the family of Captain Gary Ruffin Sr., a retired firefighter who'd passed away at the end of July.
People were there celebrating his life. Cards bearing his photo were handed out, their insides lined with glowing praise of the fire captain's life.
"He will always be remembered for his good sense of humor, caring and giving heart, honesty, storytelling, hard work, fantastic advice, passing along his knowledge as a handyman and being a strong support system," one paragraph reads.
KMOX's Maria Keena talked to his daughter Erica Ruffin, and found out that Captain Ruffin had inspired a whole family to be civil servants.
Erica Ruffin is a letter carrier, and spoke highly of her father.
"He was an extraordinary person. Very loving, kind, a family man," she said. "Hard working, a good friend, a family oriented and just all around great person."
Erica Ruffin's brother and sister are police officers. She said they looked up to their father. Plus, Erica Ruffin has a nephew who is a police officer, and she has another neice and nephew who are in the Air Force.
"I think it's just seeing us to want to help others and come from a family of people with big hearts and courageous people," she said. "And it comes from my dad. And he's displayed that our entire lives."
She said he was universally loved -- something that was clear by the amount of people at his memorial.
"When I pulled up, I almost I wanted to cry because he deserved all that. There's gonna be so many people here to celebrate his life," she said. "He was just an awesome person. Like when we would go to the bank, all the tellers knew him, we'd go to the grocery store and all the cashiers knew him; 'Hey, Gary,' you know, he just touched people."
Listen to the full story of an upstanding St. Louis civil servant who inspired a family of caring, like-minded individuals:
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