DAVID A. RUGE, 65, of Cherokee, Iowa passed away Monday, March 21, 2011 at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home. Pastor Mark Leeds will officiate. Burial will be at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery at Aurelia, Iowa. Visitation on Friday, March 25 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. with the family present from 6-8 p.m. at Boothby Funeral Home. Online condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com

David was born February 4, 1946 in Cherokee, Iowa to Arthur and Dorothy (Stilts) Ruge. He attended school in Cherokee. He was united in marriage to Connie Ridge on June 17, 1989 at Cherokee, Iowa. He had lived in Cherokee all his life. He had worked at the Cherokee Work Activity Center, in the laundry shop at Tyson's Foods and at B & M Creamery Antiques. He was a member of the Heritage Bible Church. He loved watching stock car races at Alta, Iowa, making bird house benches, crocheting, sewing and attending his grandchildren's sporting events.

He was preceded in death by his parents, father-in-law Duane Johnson, a brother-in-law Bill Hoefler and a nephew Chad Hoefler.

He is survived by his wife, Connie; four children: Kris Van Roekel and her husband Kevin and their children Amanda, Jake, Jeremy, & April of Cherokee, Iowa; Christa Kelhower and her children Caitlin & Jaren of Hawarden, Iowa; Carrie Hall and her daughter Hailey of Cherokee, Iowa; Lindsey Hall and her daughter Asha Loutsch of Cherokee, Iowa; two sisters and two brothers: Lowell Ruge and his wife Erna of Steilacoom, Washington; Edna Batten and her husband Harvey of Cherokee, Iowa; Gerald Ruge and his wife Shirley of Des Moines, Iowa; Rose Nixon and her husband Clark of Cherokee, Iowa; his mother-in-law Leva Johnson of Rockwell City, Iowa; several nieces and nephews.