Obituary of Robert K. Ruslander

Robert K. Ruslander passed away on September 6, 2019  He was 91 years old. He was born on May 29, 1928 to Arthur and Mollie Rothstein Ruslander at Brady Maternity Hospital in Albany, NY. He was a graduate of Albany P.S. 16 and Albany High School, class of 1946 where he was a senior class officer and high school athlete playing baseball, basketball and football having been selected as an All‑Albany end by the Times Union in 1945.  He attended Siena College and graduated from Michigan State University in1950, remaining a devoted Spartan fan. Robert served in the United States Army’s 175th Military Police Battalion in Germany from 1950‑1952 during the Korean War. He was married to Claire Rosenholtz of Troy in May 1954 and they spent 55 wonderful years together until her death in November 2009. “They” entered Albany Law School in the fall of 1954 and he was elected president of his graduating class in 1956‑57 and Claire loved being part of the “wives club”.  She put him through law school and upon passing the bar in 1957, he worked briefly in a law office until becoming associated with the Albany law firm of Ainsworth, Sullivan, Tracy and Knauf. He served the firm as associate, partner and then managing partner and ultimately the firm bore his name and was known as Ainsworth, Sullivan, Tracy, Knauf, Warner and Ruslander. He was a trial attorney for nearly 50 years. He was a proud member of the Albany County Bar Association, becoming President of that organization in 1994; New York State Bar Association serving on the House of Delegates; American Bar Association; and was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.  He retired from practice in 2000 but maintained an arbitration/mediation private practice and served as a judicial hearing officer with the Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department, Civil Appeals Settlement Program until 2013. He devoted many years to community service, he was the president of the Delmar School PTA, then the Middle School PTA and finally, the Bethlehem High School Parent‑Faculty Organization. He served on the Bethlehem Board of Education from 1979‑1989 and was that organization’s Vice President and then President. He was an assistant Boy Scout Troop Leader and Little League coach for 7 years. He became a member of the Eddy Geriatric Center Board (subsequently Northeast Health) where he was President of the Heritage Nursing Home.  He was also on the board at the Daughters of Sarah Nursing Home, where he spent his final days and was cared for so tenderly. A lifelong member of Congregation Beth Emeth, he was on the Board of Trustees and a member of the Brotherhood. But most importantly he was the father of Michael and his wife, Barbara Ruslander, Betsy and her husband, Louie Rizzo, David and his wife, Lisa Vlastelica. He was also survived by five grandchildren, Lindsay Chapman and her husband, Justin, Molly Hummel and her husband, Michael , Joe Ruslander, Carly Ruslander and Glenna Ruslander, and great‑granddaughter, Ainsley Chapman. He was Uncle Bob to Brian and Wendy Segel and brother of the late D.V. Ruslander. Bob was an avid reader and bibliophile, loved baseball and his Detroit Tigers, college sports and the Green Bay Packers, played tennis until his 80s, enjoyed music, movies and gardening.  We are forever grateful for his amazing caretakers in his final years at home, Gloria Vandenburg and Wayne Schermerhorn, and all those at Daughters of Sarah especially Navlette Gordon, Kathy Stipe, and Roz Norman. He was loved by so many and will be missed beyond measure.

A memorial service will be held at the Levine Memorial Chapel, 649 Washington Avenue in Albany on Sunday. September 15, 2019 at 11:00am. Private interment will be held at a later date