Eugene (Gene) Aruffo passed away at his home in Alliance on April 19, 2017
He was born June 6, 1943 in Philadelphia, PA to Americo and Fanny (Pastore) Aruffo.
He joined the U. S Army in 1961 & retired in the summer of 1981. He served in the Army Band at Ft. Gordon, Ga., Orleans, France, Ft. Belvoir, Va., Vietnam (Lhan Bin), Ft, Leonard, Mo., Ft. Dix, N.1 and Nuremberg, Germany, His dream, when he retired was to move to his “home town” Philadelphia, Pa. He worked at the Navy Yard and at Day & Zimmermann. Then he moved to Alliance, NE where he lived the rest of his life. He worked at Woolrich where he retired (again) and with his wife, Mickey, they founded the Just Neighbors’ Ministry in 1988. He came to know the Lord and to have a very strong love for Him and no one was a stranger to him. Her loved his family more that his own life and he also had a great sense of humor. He was a recovering alcoholic and used this to help many others with addiction problems.
He met the love of his life, PFC. Michele (Mickey) Janice Coleman at Ft. Gordon, Ga. and they were married on November 11, 1962.
He is survived by his wife, Mickey, his children, Lena (Greg) Frayer of Colorado Springs, CO, Wendy Forcier (Billy Smith) of Yelm, WA, Larry Aruffo of Kingsport, TN and Anthony (Susie) Aruffo of Henderson, NC and 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by one sister, Regina (Gina) Cavallero (Joe), & one bother Arthur (Weedy) Aruffo.
He is preceded in death by 4 brothers, Americo (Ric), Edward, (Eddie), Robert, (Bobby), Leonard (Bay) & 2 sisters, Vera (Sis) Malik and Helena Borgese.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to Camp Norwesca to help a child go to camp. If you are willing to do this, make your check out to Camp Norwesca and it may be sent in care of the family at 418 Missouri Ave., Alliance.
The funeral is going to be a Promotion ceremony / celebration of life at the United Methodist Church At 1:00 on Tuesday, April 25. Burial with military honors will be in the Alliance Cemetery The family requests no black clothing at the promotion ceremony / celebration of life. Visitation will be Monday from 2-7 p.m. at the Bates-Gould Funeral Home.
Online condolences may be left at www.batesgould.com.