Family Story Finder
The sweep of family history across the generations
1968 Democratic convention
It was a signature moment of the turbulent 1960s. Walter, 18, and Dan, 15, were there in Chicago, working as messengers for the Eugene McCarthy campaign.
Action at a distance
Stan's Mathematica notebooks document his later work and speculations
Adventures in Israel—Walter and Joanne
Two of the Ruby offspring went back to Israel for significant periods.
An afternoon at Lake Merrit
In July 2003, Stan and Helga came to the East Bay for a golden summer outing.
Family History Machine is reborn in 2020
Machinist Dan Ruby and his team members envision a new future for Family History Machine
Final days in Kovno
The amazing story of the unrelated Rabinowitz family in the days before the liquidation of Kovno. Two sons survived to make their lives in Israel.
Fourth Generation Rubys
Just a bit about Twyla, Gene, Zach and Lani.
Grad-student life in a packet of letters
Stan maintained correspondence with his closest high school and Army buddies, several of whom went on to prominent careers.
Grammy — everyone’s favorite grandmother
She made each of her six grandchildren feel special
Green Valley Drive—our exurban childhood
Our years in Pittsburgh were spent in a tract house in a natural wonderland—backed up against a family farm and an equestrian estate.
Helga in the League of Women Voters
Helga expressed a commitment to liberal values in her lifelong work for the League of Women Voters.
In the Signal Corps in New Guinea
Stan strung transmission wires in the South Pacific during World War II.
Jews in jazz—the big band era
Stan's musical idol was Benny Goodman, the King of Swing.
Just so—how the Rubys got their name
When and why did Walter Rabinowitz take on our abbreviated last name? He may have gotten the idea during intermission at a Bronx nickelodeon
Kindergarten campaigner
In 1955, Helga led a committee of parents to open a preschool in Vestal.
Lest we forget—family Holocaust testimony
Remembering our Ringel and Wohlgemuth/Paechter family members who perished in the Shoah.
Liberal values in the 1960s
From civil rights to war resistance to arms control, Ruby family members embraced liberal social causes
Long Beach—taking in the Klein family
During the Depression, families helped each other out. The Kleins moved in with the Rubys in Long Beach.
Meeting Harriet Berkowitz
Harriet Berkowitz was doubly distanced from her Rabinowitz roots, first by her father’s partial family estrangement and then by his divorce. But she shared a trove of precious family documents and childhood memories after discovering this blog.
Memories of young Stan
Stan was smart and fresh, with something to say about almost anything
Mössbauer man—Stan makes his mark in physics
Stan's innovations in Mossbauer spectroscopy.
Musical appreciation in the Ruby household
From Mozart to swing to the Grateful Dead.
On Hill Avenue
The Ruby family comes of age in a bedroom suburb west of Chicago
Our Israeli cousins
Ze’evs progency: a new generation of vibrant, contemporary Israelis.
Our Ruby name—sullied in Dallas
Lee Harvey Oswald's killer Jack Ruby was not related to our family. He tarnished our family name in the history books.
Rabbi Spektor's true genealogy
Most of what we discovered about Rabbi Spektor's genealogy was entirely true. All but the myth of our family's connection to it
Rabinowitz family in the Bronx
Before and after Joseph Rabinowitz’s death in 1917, family members resettled in the Bronx
Ringel vs. Ruby in World War I
Herman Ringel and Walter Ruby wore opposing uniforms in the Great War
Seymour Rabinowitz and Harriet Berkowitz
Seymour, also called Samuel, was partly estranged from the family. He worked as a truant officer in the New York City schools. His daughter Harriet Berkowitz discovered our blog and contributed a trove of precious documents.
Sidney Kessler and American Spirits
Walter Ruby's boss in the liquor business became an influential figure in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Split decision on restored German citizenship
Both Dan and Joanne applied for reclaimed citizenship under Article 116 of the German Constitution, but only Joanne’s application was approved
Sputnik in the backyard
Watching Sputnik at night from our back yard in a suburb of Pittsburgh is one of my earliest memories.
Stan at Brant Lake
Stan summered at a Jewish summer camp in the Adirondacks.
Stan finds love outside of a 20-block radius
Home from the war, Stan Ruby was a graduate student in physics at Columbia University. Helga Ringel was a smart, pretty war refugee from Berlin
The corkscrew on eBay—sourcing family artifacts
Out of the files of the U.S. Patent Office and into the peculiar subculture of corkscrew collectors
The family secret behind grandfather's desk calendar
A surprising artifact discovered after a parent's death leads to a series of discoveries and a new pastime in genealogy
The Felensteins of Long Island
Joan Ruby married Milton Felenstein. Their life and family in Rockville Centre.
The physics experiment that went wrong
How and why did Stan Ruby's important post-graduate research go wrong, and what impact did it have on his career in physics?
The problem with anti-ballistic missiles
Stanley Ruby entered the public debate over nuclear missile technology in 1968-69.
The Rabinowitz family in Jewish Harlem
Joseph and Lena Rabinowitz were Russian immigrants who ran a corner grocery in Jewish Harlem. Their nine children were native Americans
The Rabinowitz girls
Meta, Blossom and Sadie
The Rubys in Israel—1961 sabbatical
Our family’s amazing year of discovery and connection
The Zimkin line—David, Arthur and Mark
Following the descendants of the eldest Rabinowitz daughter, without a happy ending.
Third Generation Rubys
First came Walter, then Danny and Joanne. They would carry on the Ruby-Ringel genes.
Turning over rocks to find long-lost relatives
During the course of my genealogy work, I have discovered and connected with cousins from all my family branches. Here are some lessons learned.
Twyla's childhood
Outlooks of a pre-millennial
Walter Ruby and the Carioca Cooler
The U.S. liquor industry took off after the repeal of Prohibition. Walter Ruby was the marketing manager for the American Spirits company
Walter's first draft of family history
Cherry picking the best content from our founding document written in 2006: "The Ruby Family Histories — The Early Lives of Stanley and Helga Ruby"
Wild goose chase—an accident in Jersey City
A newspaper clipping placed Walter Ruby on the scene of an automobile wreck in Hudson County, N.J. Not every lead pans out.
Yichus and our relation to the famous rabbi
Walter thought he had proved the family legend of descent from the celebrated Kovno Rav, Rabbi Yitchak Elchanon Spektor. Later facts emerged that suggested a more tenuous connection.
Young man on the make in the Roaring Twenties
Walter Ruby hustled his way as a traveling silver salesman, with some career side trips into boxing promotion and medicinal alcohol.
Ze'ev and Penina Sharon of Kibbutz Afeq
A pioneer to Palestine in 1936, Ze’ev married Penina and they did their part to build the state of Israel as founders of Kibbutz Afek.