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RIPLEY -- Ripley native, local historian, award-winning writer and editor for Jackson Newspapers, public address announcer for Ripley High School Athletic teams, and more recently Director for the Ripley Convention and Visitors Bureau and Museum Mike Ruben passed away suddenly Monday morning at the age of 65.
"He's truly an icon for Jackson County," said Mark Whitley, executive director of the Jackson and Roane County Economic Development Authority. "He will be sorely missed."
Whitley said Ruben was one of the first people to welcome him into the community 22 years ago when he became the director for the EDA.
"That's when I met him," Whitley said. "I've never met anybody who wasn't a friend of Mike's. Everybody he met he made friends with."
Whitley said Ruben was very involved with Ripley High School athletics as the public address announcer.
"He had a tremendous voice," Whitley said. "He had a tremendous presence no matter what he was doing."
Ruben's work as a historian was extensive and included a play he penned about the town's history entitled, "Ripley: The Man and the Town that honors his name." and the 30-minute documentary titled "Trials, Tragedies & Triumphs," about the building of the historic Jackson County Courthouse.
"He was the historian for our community," Whitley said. "He knew the history of Jackson County better than any one person I know."
Ruben also helped with the Fourth of July celebrations for the city of Ripley and played a big part in the city's recent 190th Birthday where he wrote the publication on the town's colorful history.
Ruben was a graduate of Ripley High School in 1976, a graduate of Marshall University and did public address work for Thundering Herd football and men's basketball for many seasons, and received numerous awards throughout his life, including the Distinguished Community Service Award in 2014 where coaching legends Don Nehlen of West Virginia University and Bobby Pruett of Marshall University were the guest speakers.
No funeral details had been released as of Tuesday.