Joseph H. Ruetz

Oct. 21, 1916 – Jan. 2, 2003

STANFORD, CA — Joseph H. Ruetz, 86, of 848 Mayfield Avenue, Stanford, CA 94305, died following a short illness at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, Jan.2, in Stanford University Hospital.

He was born on Oct. 21, 1916, in Racine, Wis., the son of Joseph F. and Margaret N. (Meyers) Ruetz.

On Nov.27, 1948, he married Genevieve Cook in St.Joseph Church, South Bend, Ind. She preceded him in death on April 23, 1996.

Mr.Ruetz is survived by a daughter, Susan Ruetz; and a son, Joseph W. Ruetz; a grandchild, Daniel Ruetz; three sisters, Genevieve Collins of Sierra Madre, Calif., Sr. Virginia Miller, OP, Racine, Wis., and Marjorie Narducci of Cheshire, Conn.; three brothers, Clement Miller of Mishawaka, Ind., Edward Ruetz of South Bend and Robert Ruetz of Omaha, Neb.

He was preceded in death by a sister, Mary Ruetz; and by two brothers, Raymond Ruetz and Thomas Ruetz.

Mr. Ruetz graduated from Central High School, South Bend, and the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind. He spent three years at the University of California, Berkeley, Calif., and two years at the University of Chicago studying anthropology. He played football at the University of Notre Dame from 1934-1938.  As a sophomore guard he played in the last three quarters of the famous Ohio State-Notre Dame game in 1935. With teammates Chuck Sweeney and Joe Kuharich, he played on the Chicago Tribune College All-Star team that defeated the NFL champion Washington Redskins in August 1938. He played with the St. Mary Pre-Flight Service team in 1942-1943, achieving All American honors on the All Service team in 1943. He played for the Chicago Rockets of the American Football League from 1946-1947. He was the last head football coach at St. Mary College, Moraga, Calif., in 1949 when it was a Division-I school. He was an assistant coach at Stanford University from 1950- 1955. He worked with the Stanford University Foundation from 1956- 1971. He served as athletic director at Stanford University from 1971- 1979. Edward “Moose”Krause, athletic director at Notre Dame and former teammate, and he arranged a restored Stanford-Notre Dame football series.

He moved boldly to bring Stanford University into compliance with US Title 9 which mandated that women’s programs be established to give female students athletic opportunities similar to males. With sensitivity for the feelings of American Indians he worked skillfully to help the University put aside the nickname, “Stanford Indians,” and substitute the nickname “Stanford Cardinals.” At NCAA national meetings he argued strongly that an athlete was primarily a student, only secondarily an athlete. Yet he believed that athletics contributed much to the overall spirit of the student body and school.

In the 1930s and 1940s Mr. Ruetz was an avid hiker, tackling some of the most rugged areas of America, especially southeast Utah and the middle ford of the Salmon River in Idaho.

A Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated on Monday, Jan.13, in St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Palo Alto, Calif.

The McGann Funeral Home, University Area Chapel, 2313 E. Edison Road, South Bend, handled local arrangements.

Article from 07 Jan 2003 The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, IN)

Sources: Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com

05/23/2026 EJS