Final Moments

Ron Ruesch, beloved father, husband, brother, grandfather, neighbor, and friend, passed to the other side of the veil this evening at approximately 4:45 p.m., surrounded by his wife and many of his children.

His blood pressure had dropped dangerously low multiple times throughout the night and day. When I arrived at the hospital in the morning, my mom said that his kidneys were still failing and dialysis wasn't working anymore. I shared with her Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-9, which states.

 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the ^apit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the ^bdeep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to ^chedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of ^dhell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee ^eexperience, and shall be for thy good.

 8 The ^aSon of Man hath ^bdescended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

 9 Therefore, ^ahold on thy way, and the priesthood shall ^bremain with thee; for their ^cbounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy ^ddays are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, ^efear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.

I also shared with her the fact that L.D.S. church president, Harold B. Lee had always taken whatever measures he had to to save his life because he felt that if he didn't, the Lord might hold him responsible for not finishing his work on the earth. I told her that I didn't know what would happen, and even though I felt pretty sure that the end was near, I knew that this was something that my dad had to go through. 

Based on this, we decided to give it another shot. We informed the doctor, and they began administering more drugs to raise his blood pressure in addition to trying a new antibiotic to fight the infection.

More of my family arrived, and everyone took turns going in to see him. Later on in the day, my mom called me back to his room. She said that she still wasn't sure if we should put the intravenous catheter in his thigh. She wanted me to pray with her and see what we should do. I said a prayer and asked the Lord if we should continue to intervene or if my dad was needed on the other side.

I knew that my dad had passed through his personal crucible. We and he had done what we could to keep him here, but the Lord needed him.

As I sat by his bedside with my mom and sisters, I read him these words, penned by the apostle Paul:

6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

 7 I have fought a good ^afight, I have ^bfinished my course, I have kept the faith:

 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a ^acrown of ^brighteousness, which the Lord, the righteous ^cjudge, shall give me at that day.

A while later, the doctor removed the breathing tube, and my dad breathed his last breaths. Amazingly, his heart continued to beat for some time. I laid my hands on his head and released him from his mortal bonds.

We usually wait for a person to pass on to eulogize him or her. My family got the wonderful opportunity to share our words of praise and love with my dad before he left. A few days ago, I wrote him something to show how I feel. I got to read it to him then. Here it is for all of you.

The Strongest Man in the World

As a five-year-old boy,

I entered your gym.

I looked up in awe at the great man before me.

A man who lifted great weights,

started successful businesses,

and raised his family.

A man with the voice of a Martin Luther King when speaking, a Pavarotti when singing, or a Macho Man when agitated.

A man with the strength of ten,

the courage of a lion,

the love of his family,

and the power of Samson.

My dad—the strongest man in the world.

As a 32-year-old man,

I entered your hospital room.

I looked down in awe at the great man before me.

A man who lifted himself from the brink of death,

started back on the road to health with all odds against him,

and raised the spirits of all those around him, even when he himself drank deeply from the dregs of misery.

A man without a voice of his own, but who had the voices of his whole family at his service.

A man with the strength of thousands,

And the courage of Daniel, who entered the den full of ravished lions.

A man with the love of not only his family, but also hundreds of friends, legions of angels, and even the Lord himself.

A man with the power of God on his side.

My dad—the strongest man in the world.