Page 50 - Rukert - 100th Anniversary

ABOVE: The new offices at Lazaretto, 1973.
RIGHT: (Top) Unhappy Cap with
a sheepish son and grandson. (Middle) Norm Jr., Norman Sr. and new hire George “Bud” Nixon. (Bottom) Rick Wolfe, Bud Nixon, Norm Rukert and Bill Bienert.
FACING PAGE:
Cap Rukert in 1971, three years before his death
Fearing what Cap’s reaction would be, Norman Sr. decided to show him the new offices when no one was around. The holiday for Washington’s birthday gave him the perfect opportunity to
do so. The day before the holiday, he called Cap
and arranged to pick him up with the pretense
of showing him a new piece of equipment at Lazaretto. The next morning, Norman Sr. ushered his father into the new office, expecting the worst, but whether Cap was too mad or just too shocked, all he did was look around for a few seconds. Then, he turned to his son and said, “let’s go home.” The next day, Norman Sr. was in his office about the time Cap usually came to work when he heard his father exclaiming: “Get that damn furniture out
of my office and go uptown and bring back my old desk and chair.” This was done at once, and peace reigned from that moment on. As Cap approached his late eighties, he continued to come to work, spending much of his time pondering the future of Rukert Terminals. In a letter to his three children from January 1973, he declared, “I’m convinced
it will continue to expand as heretofore under the leadership of my son Norman.”
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