Naylor W. "Bill" Ruppert, a retired machinist who also had owned and managed a trash-removal business, died Tuesday of lung disease at his Stevensville home. He was 86.
Naylor Wilbert Ruppert was born in Baltimore and raised in Garrison. He attended Baltimore County public schools.
During World War II, he served with the 82nd Airborne Division until being honorably discharged in 1946.
In the late 1940s, he worked as a painter for Thompson's Trailers in Pikesville, and later drove a school bus for Baltimore County public schools.
He took a job with Ruppert Sanitation, a family-owned trash-removal business, and then joined Westinghouse Electric Corp. as a machinist in 1960. He retired in 1980.
He returned to the trash-removal business, which he managed until 1986.
In the 1980s, the former longtime Pikesville resident moved to Kent Island. An outdoorsman, Mr. Ruppert enjoyed boating, fishing and hunting.
He also was an avid gardener and traveler and liked playing competitive horseshoes, poker and backgammon.
"He was a tireless father and grandfather who spent most of his life working two jobs, yet he always found time to spend with his family," said a daughter, Cindy Ruppert of Stevensville.
Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lake View Memorial Park, 2724 Liberty Road, Eldersburg.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Ruppert is survived by his wife of 65 years, the former Peggy Joan Russell: a son, William D. Ruppert of Cooksville; another daughter, Diane C. Ruppert of Randallstown; a brother, Ernest Ruppert of Edgewater; four grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter. Another son, David A. Ruppert, died in 1999.