Barney A. Ruffatto passed away Wednesday March 22nd at 4:40pm at the Lead-Deadwood Regional Hospital with wife Leona and son Rob by his side.

Barney was born August 8th, 1939 in Lead, SD to Jim and Elsie (Faye) Ruffatto. He was the youngest of two children with his sister Elaine being 3 years older. He attended St. Patrick Catholic School for his elementary education and then attended Lead High School, working his summer months at Homestake Mining Co doing maintenance work. Barney graduated from Lead High School in 1957 and went on to enlist for three years in the US Army on January 3rd, 1958, taking up the trade of machinist. Upon the completion of his enlistment in the Army, he returned to Lead, and found employment with the Homestake Gold Mine again, only this time as a machinist working in the machine shop. While working at Homestake, Barney met his future brother in law, Donald Brand, who first talked Barney into joining the SD Army National Guard. Don later introduced his sister, Leona, to Barney in August of 1963 and Barney made Leona his wife on December 30th of 1964. They had 4 boys; Melvin, Tony, Kevin & Rob. Barney remained in the National Guard for 20 years accumulating many friends during his time in service and attaining the rank of Captain before retiring. Barney continued to work as a master machinist at the Homestake Gold Mine until 2001 working a total of 44 years at Homestake Mining Company.

Barney and Leona remained in Lead after his retirement from the mine and he stayed active with volunteering at the Lord's Cupboard in Lead as well as delivering Meals On Wheels and was a very frequent blood donor. When he was not volunteering you'd usually find him taking some well-earned time off with his wife to travel, hike the Black Hills, take in a play at the Black Hills Playhouse or take a bike ride on the Mickelson Trail. He also thoroughly enjoyed working on various home improvement projects. However, our family would all agree, watching a machinist work carpentry could be painful and tedious, but each cut was accurate and anything he created was flawless! Barney was always known to have a great sense of humor and if he didn't have a new joke for you, you could count on him saying something to fit the situation to make everyone laugh. His humorous impromptu comments garnered the moniker "Barney jokes". Barney was also a member of the Knights of Columbus at St. Patrick Church as well as a former Eucharistic Minister. He had a strong foundation in his Catholic faith and prayed his rosary in union with his wife daily. Barney thoroughly enjoyed spending time with his family whether it was over a meal or talking about the latest news headlines. He also enjoyed playing a competitive game of Wii Bowling or Wii golf while sipping a strong cup of coffee or favorite "libation" of rye whiskey or bourbon.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Leona and two sons, Rob & Melvin Ruffatto; Mel's wife, Chastity and grandson, Jacob; and a half-sister, Kathy Sweere of Sioux Falls. He was preceded in death by his two sons, Tony and Kevin; his sister, Elaine Wingenbach; and his father and mother, James and Elsie Ruffatto.

Vigil services will be at 7:00 PM at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Lead. Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 10am on Friday, March 31st, 2017 at the church. Burial will immediately follow the service at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis. In lieu of flowers, memorials have been established to benefit the Lord's Cupboard and the Homestake Opera House.

After watching Barney suffer painfully the last two weeks of his life, our family found solace in his passing knowing that he was being reunited with his sons Tony and Kevin. Regardless of the pain Barney's passing brings to us, we are overjoyed to know that his sons get to spend this precious time with him again. All is well with his soul.