Jo Ann Ruckman

1938 - 2013

Jo Ann Ruckman
December 27, 1938 - March 28, 2013

Jo Ann Ruckman died March 28, 2013, at age 74. She was a longtime Pocatello resident and professor of history at Idaho State University.
Among her writings is a book on Pocatello history as gleaned from the newspapers of bygone years. (Pocatello Is Our Home, Idaho State University Press, 1998) For a number of years she wrote a local newspaper column on Pocatello history.
While teaching at Idaho State, she initiated the first Women's History program. Her research interests included women who settled the West. She edited a book of writings by Annie Pike Greenwood, a leading member of the community in southern Idaho in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (We Sagebrush Folks, University of Idaho Press, 1988) Jo Ann was active in the Idaho State Historical Society.
The cause of death was pneumonia following brain surgery. She died at peace.
Jo Ann was born and raised in Ames, Iowa. She graduated as valedictorian of the College of Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University in 1961, then went on to the University of Chicago as a Woodrow Wilson Scholar in Russian history and later received her PhD from the University of Northern Illinois. After receiving her doctorate, she excitedly accepted a position at Idaho State, feeling lucky that she would be able work and live in the Northwest, where she had spent many of her growing-up years traveling and camping with her family. Some of her happiest times in later life were spent at her cabin near Island Park, Idaho. Among the greatest joys of her life were her Staffordshire pit bull terriers, all of them sweet-tempered and lavished with affection.
She is survived by her partner, Peter Machotka of Pocatello; her sister, Betty Schrampfer Azar of Whidbey Island, Washington; and her niece, Chelsea L. Azar Feldman of Berkeley, California. She was preceded in death by her parents, Frances Nies Schrampfer and William H. Schrampfer.
There will be no commemorative service. Her family would like to thank Packer Elder Care Law of Blackfoot for their exceptional help and professional care during Jo's illness and dying. In memoriam contributions can be sent to the Idaho State Historical Society Archives, 2205 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise, Idaho, 83712.