Walter Alan Rueff; Car Dealer, Community Leader

Walter Alan Rueff, who helped build the Walter Rueff Auto Center into a prominent San Fernando business, has died at his home in Valencia. He was 75.

Rueff, who was known as Alan, died Friday of a brain tumor, his son Mike Rueff said.

Born Feb. 15, 1923, in Glendale, Rueff grew up in San Fernando and graduated from Glendale Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school. He briefly attended La Sierra College in Riverside before enlisting in the Navy in 1942, serving as an aviation mechanic.

When World War II ended in 1945, Rueff went to work as a mechanic at his father’s San Fernando car dealership. His father, Walter, had acquired the business in 1930, selling Hudsons and Buicks.

Rueff went from mechanic to salesman in the late 1940s, serving as general manager in the 1950s and taking over the Buick dealership in 1962. He remained active in the business until early this year, when it was sold to General Motors, which retained the name, Walter Rueff Auto Center.

Rueff, who worked with a group of civic leaders to bring a Los Angeles County Courthouse to San Fernando, also was past president of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of San Fernando and Southern California Buick Dealers Assn.

In addition to his son Mike, Rueff is survived by his wife of 55 years, Jacqueline; son Peter of Newhall; sister, Jean Olin Nelson of San Fernando, and two grandchildren.

A funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Santa Clarita Mortuary in Newhall. In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer donations to the Rueff Family Foundation, 208 Park Ave., San Fernando 91340. The foundation funds youth programs in San Fernando.