It is with heavy hearts that we share the unexpected passing of Peter Lawrence Ruiter on Tuesday, April 23, 2024 at the age of 59. Pete was born in Guelph June 13th, 1964 to John and Alice Ruiter, minutes before his twin brother Richard.
He will be sadly missed by his wife of 35 years Wendy (nee Warnaar), son Kyle and daughter Andrea. He was a dear brother to Jane Wierstra (Lowell), Betty Thalen (Hank), Lucy Van de Pol (Frank), Tina Kirch (Duanne), Henry Ruiter (Jo-Anne), Richard Ruiter (Lisa). He is predeceased by his brother Clarence Ruiter (Shelley). Uncle Pete will be missed by many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
Peter was an avid car enthusiast and had restored many classic cars over the years including a 1965 Mustang, 1955 Bel-Air, 1970 Camaro, 1971 Blazer, 1966 Suburban and was on the look-out for a 1966 Chevelle to restore next. He went to many cruise nights and car shows to show off his hard work and skills and came home many times with awards and trophies.
He enjoyed travelling and camping most of his life. He started out with an old tent trailer and worked his way up to a 32 ft. fifth wheel trailer which he and Wendy used to travel around Canada and the USA the last couple of years. He also loved snowmobiling, ATV’ing, fishing and scuba diving in the Caribbean.
In his earlier years Pete attended Conestoga College in Kitchener and graduated with a diploma in Industrial Woodworking. He was very talented at this and made many pieces of furniture for his family and friends. Later he became a self-employed flooring installer and worked hard for many years to provide for his family. He was fortunate enough to be able to retire when he was 55 years old. His skills didn’t stop there. You could say he was a jack-of-all-trades. He was always willing to lend a helping hand for friends.
Interment will take place with family at a later date.
A Celebration of Life is to be held Saturday, June 1st, 2024 from 1-4 pm at the Guelph Country Club (133 Woodlawn Rd. E. Guelph). All Welcome. Food and refreshments will be provided.
Arrangements entrusted to WALL-CUSTANCE FUNERAL HOME & CHAPEL (519-822-0051 / www.wallcustance.com).
In lieu of flowers, donations would be greatly appreciated to CMHA (Canadian Mental Health Association)
A tree will be planted in memory of Peter L. Ruiter in the Wall-Custance Memorial Forest.