Chesapeake — The Rev. Lee Van Horne Ruckman, Sr., 92, retired Methodist minister and former pastor of Oaklette
United Methodist Church, died Sunday, February 24, 1974 at 7 a.m. in a Norfolk hospital. He lived at 1134 Laurel Ave.
A clergyman since 1910, until this year he was supplying for other pastors of the area for vacation or illness. He was the
husband of Mrs. Ester Louise Shackelford Ruckman.
He had served pastorates of Good Hope United Methodist Church and 12 churches in the Richmond, Roanoke,
Stanleytown, and Norfolk areas.
Educated at Athens (WV) State Teachers College, he received a second degree in divinity from Randolph-Macon College
and taught six years in West Virginia before entering the Methodist ministry.
At Oaklette Church, where he retired and was a member, he was a past president of the Methodist Men. He was a
member of Warm Springs Masonic Lodge 253 and an honorary member of the Chesapeake Chamber of Commerce.
Besides his widow, survivors include a daugher, Mrs. James T. Shepherd Jr. of Buena Vista; and a son, the Rev. Lee V.
Ruckman Jr., pastor of Great Bridge United Methodist Church.
A funeral service will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. in Oaklette United Methodist Church, Indian River Road. Officiating will
be Dr. Harry W. Backhus III, the Rev. Reginald H. Potts III, and the Rev. John Teter. The body will be taken from Twiford
Colonial Chapel, Great Bridge, to the church at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Burial will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday in Hillcrest
Cemetery, White Sulpher Springs, WV.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the Virginia Wesleyan College Memorial Fund, Methodist Children’s
Home Memorial Fund, Richmond, or Oaklette United Methodist Church Building Fund.