Aurelio "Pop" Ruiz

Aurelio “Pop” Ruiz

93, pipefitter, welder

Succasunna: Aurelio Ruiz passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 12, 2020 at Compassionate Care Hospice/Dover General.  He was 93 years of age.

Born in Hoz de Anero, Santander, Spain, Aurelio entered the United States on June 6, 1954 at Galveston, Texas aboard the SS Monte Urquieda.  He then found his way up to Dover, NJ where he and his wife Catherine lived on Richards Avenue until 1961 and then moved to Succasunna where they spent the rest of their lives.  There at his house in Succasunna, Aurelio helped his brothers Pedro, Severiano and Manuel and sister Maria enter the United States where they lived with their families to get their start in a new foreign country and begin long fruitful lives.   

Aurelio or “Yeyo” who he was known as by his closest friends and family was a welder for many years at American Weldery and Steel Company in Dover, NJ.  There he learned many skills including welding, steel tank fabrication, and designing and building almost anything made of steel.  After American Weldery closed Aurelio began working at the Komline-Sanderson Corporation in Peapack, NJ as a Press/Brake Technician where he continued using his mechanical expertise in the construction of large equipment used extensively in the wastewater treatment industry.  He retired from Komline-Sanderson in December 1993.       

He was a parishioner of St. Therese’s RC Church in Succasunna. 

He also loved Spanish and Polka music and attended many polka dances over the years, early on at Polania Acres in Dover in the 1970’s and later in the years at the Whippany Elks Club and other venues in Pa.  He loved to dance and he and his wife Catherine (nee Makosky) could be seen dancing at the many polka dances they attended over the years.   

He was pre-deceased by his wife of 59 years, Catherine in 2014, parents Severiano Ruiz Miranda and Aurelia Ruiz Cajigas, brothers Juan, Angel, Severiano and sisters, Delfina, Sophia, and Maria, mother-in-law Frances Makosky and step-father-in-law Phillip Rodriquez.

Survived by son Michael, daughter-in-law Alice, daughter Karen and son-in-law Bill Stock, sisters Guadalupe and Pilar, brothers Pedro and Manuel and his grandsons Alex and Max who he loved dearly and was very proud of.    

Aurelio is also survived by many nieces, nephews, grand- nieces and grand-nephews many of which live in NJ and some who reside in California, Ohio, Florida and Spain. 

Visitation will be held 2-6 pm on Sunday, August 16th at the Bermingham Funeral Home, 216 South Main Street, Wharton, NJ.  A funeral mass will be held 10 am on Monday at St. Mary’s Church, Wharton.  Entombment will follow at Locust Hill Mausoleum, Dover. 

In lieu of flowers, donations in Aurelio’s memory to the American Heart Association would be appreciated.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Aurelio "Pop" Ruiz, please visit our floral store.