Although illness kept him away from his one true passion — Army Aviation — for the last six months, Fort Rucker and its surrounding communities will always remember him as a kind face as they entered the United States Army Aviation Museum where he served as a tour guide for the last 10 years of his life.

“He was the best advocate and ambassador that Army Aviation ever had,” said Steven Maxham, director of the Aviation Museum. “He was so proud of it he never failed to talk it up to anybody.”

Maxham remembers the 84-year-old Ruf always wearing something promoting Army Aviation.

Whether it was a baseball cap, a pin or a shirt, Willie Ruf was Army Aviation from head to toe, Maxham said.

In fact, Ruf so embodied Army Aviation, Maxham deemed him an “icon of the branch.”

Ruf, who lived in the area since he retired as an Army Aviator in 1970, taught branch history classes at the museum to flight school students for the past 10 years, Maxham said, and immediately students fell in love with him.

“What made him popular with the students was that they could relate to him, they could identify with him,” Maxham said. “When he talked to you it was like talking to someone you had known a long time.”

Students, along with Ruf’s fellow aviators, greatly respected the pilot, who for many years flew around the presidents of the United States.

Basically, he commanded their respect, but not from anything he did, Maxham said. Students and aviators just realized he had a very good perspective on Aviation history - he lived it.

“They realized this was a guy who had been there and done that,” Maxham said. “There was a great deal of respect because of that.”

Ruf definitely left his mark on the Aviation Branch and many of the current senior leaders in aviation were actually his students, Maxham said.

Not only did Ruf know his aviation history, but he was well loved because of his sincere interest in the welfare of the local flight school students.

“He did a lot of individual mentoring on his own,” Maxham said. “If a student asked him [Ruf] a question, he [student] usually ended up with another friend.”

It was not just about answering a student’s question for Ruf, who was in the first flight school graduating class in 1954 at Fort Rucker, but a relationship between two aviators.

Ruf would meet young aviators at the museum on occasion and walk the floor with them, talking to them about their career and giving advice on life, Maxham said.

“He mentored a lot of aviators,” Maxham said. “I saw him go out of his way on more than one occasion for students.”

Maxham, who valued Ruf’s opinion on “many things,” said the aviator will be greatly missed.

Ruf was a “regular fixture” at the museum and his face will be missed by those who not only worked at the museum, but by the patrons as well.

Ruf volunteered to teach the branch history classes to students, but also gave many tours to the family members of the students he taught. Ruf also spent time at the museum, even when he was not giving tours.

“You never knew when he was going to be here, but you knew he was going to be here,” Maxham said.

Ruf’s wife, Kim, described her husband as someone who “loved people.”

“He loved helping people,” Kim said. “If someone needed help, he helped them.”

Ruf especially loved “Army people,” and always put his love for the military first in his life, she said.

Ruf volunteered in many capacities, from the Aviation Museum to the Red Cross to driving a van full of veterans to the VA hospital in Tuskegee, Kim said.

“He was a great guy,” she said. “I want the whole world to remember him.”

Although many area residents remember him as the friendly face at the museum or through his time volunteering with the Red Cross, Ruf was a highly recognized Army aviator.

Ruf, who started out as an infantryman in the Army in 1941, became an aviator at the age of 32. He served 14 years as an infantryman, serving in World War II and the Korean conflict.

According to “A History of Army Aviation” written by Dr. James W. Williams, as an infantryman Ruf wanted to fly so badly that he “rode along anytime he could get someone to let him on a helicopter.”

His aviation career began when he flew with one of the president’s pilots Maj. William A. Howell. According to the author, one day when Howell was going to fly, Ruf asked if he could come along. Howell granted the request. During flight, Howell mistakenly handed the controls to Ruf, who was a warrant officer at the time, because he assumed he was a pilot. After noticing something was wrong, Howell realized Ruf had never flown an aircraft and soon thereafter got Ruf into flight school.

In 1958, Ruf was assigned to the Presidential Helicopter Detachment in Washington, D.C.

Ruf flew Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and numerous Heads of State during his years as a Presidential Helicopter Detachment pilot.

He even had the honor of being the first helicopter pilot to fly the presidential helicopter out of the United States during his “around the world” trip with Eisenhower in 1959.

Throughout his 28 years of service in the Army, Ruf served six campaigns in the Pacific during WWII, two Korean campaigns, one campaign in Lebanon and three campaigns in Vietnam. Ruf was awarded a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, a Legion of Merit, the Purple Heart and an Air Medal for Valor.

He also served as a Standardization Instructor at Fort Rucker from 1965 until his retirement.

Ruf is survived by his wife, a daughter, Terri Crawford of Virginia; a son Billy Ruf of Enterprise; three grandchildren, Kimberly Boxton of Colorado; Jennifer Crawford of Virginia and Brian Crawford, who is currently stationed in Iraq.

He is also survived by Kim’s daughter Natalie and a brother and a sister.

A date for his memorial service has not yet been set, but will not be held until October, Kim said.

Photo: Ret. Warrant Officer 4 Willie Ruf, right, stands beside an unidentified man while picking up a helicopter from the Sikorsky plant.