Leonard Joseph "Lenny" Ruck

Lenny Ruck passed on November 11 2025. He was one of seven children born to Bonney O'Brien and Eugene Albert Ruck.

Lenny's mother Bonney, died in her early 40s. Bonney's loving older sister Muriel and her husband Joseph Haufe incredibly took Lenny and four of his siblings into their home. She was a second mother to Lenny and her son Jimmy, a brother.

Born in Baltimore Maryland, Lenny came to Memphis is his 20's and made his mark here.

He earned his BA at Memphis State University and became a schoolteacher – his true calling. He taught mainly middle school students in public schools in Memphis and Holly Springs Mississippi and indigenous students at the Circle of Nations School in Wahpeton, North Dakota. The faculty gave Lenny an honorific title – Len Walks in Morning Sun.

He established a religious bookstore, Seraphim Rose, on Walker Street in Memphis where he was revered for his spirituality and intelligence. He collected admirers and many dogs.

Lenny had many losses in life but also many blessings. His greatest was to have a summer life-guarding job where he met Timothy Hutcheson, age 10. He adopted Timmy one year later – the first single male adoption allowed in Shelby County Tennessee.

He studied at the St. Herman's Monastery in Platina California in 1986 becoming a religious Brother. Later he was ordained a priest and ministered to congregants in Memphis for many years.

Additionally, Lenny earned a degree at Pittsburg Institute of Mortuary Science.

In the early 1990s he acquired a farm in Saulsbury and lived there until the end of his life.

Lenny is predeceased by his parents, his beloved brother and sister, Eugene and Beverly. He is survived by his son, Timmy and grandchildren Eric and Anna; his long-time partner, Darrius Robinson; his siblings, Michael Ruck, Mary Spriggs, Virginia Perkins, Patty Ruck and Jimmy Haufe and many nieces and nephews, friends, and intentional family.

"Lenny was a gatherer," Timmy says of him.

A visitation will be held at Memphis Funeral Home, located at 5599 Poplar Ave, Memphis, Tennessee, 38119, on November 16, 2025, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm. The funeral service will follow at the same location from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm.