Jack Leon Ruby

1911 - 1967  (55 years)

• Name	Jack Leon Ruby  [1]
  Legal	Between 4 and 14 Mar 1964	Dallas, Texas, USA
  	On trial for murder
  Birth	Abt 1910	Illinois, USA   [2]
  Birth	Abt 1911	Illinois, USA   [3, 4]
  Residence	1911	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  	near 14th and Newberry Streets (Jewish neighbourhood)
  Birth	3 Mar 1911	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Birth	13 Mar 1911	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Birth	19 Mar 1911	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Born	25 Mar 1911	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5, 6]
  	"Official records list conflicting dates for Ruby’s birth; however, he used March 25, 1911, on his driver’s license." (history.com)
  Gender	Male
  Birth	21 Apr 1911	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Birth	25 Apr 1911	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [1, 5]
  Birth	26 Apr 1911	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Birth	23 Jun 1911	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Residence	Between 1916 and 1921	1232 Morgan Street, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  	fourth residence in his first 5 years
  Education	24 Oct 1916	Smyth Grammar School, Chicago, Illinois, USA   [5]
  	through to the 1920 - 1921 term
  Census	2 Jan 1920	Morgan Street, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [2]
  	with parents and all 7 siblings
  Education	Between 1921 and 1922	Clarke School, Chicago, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Occupation	1921  [5]
  	"scalped" tickets to various sporting events and sold numerous novelty items and knickknacks, particularly those connected with professional and collegiate athletics
  Residence	1922	Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Legal	6 Jun 1922  [5]
  	Referred to the Institute for Juvenile Research by the Jewish Social Service Bureau
  	The reason for the referral was "truancy and incorrigible at home.". On July 10, 1922, the institute recommended to the bureau that Jack be placed in a new environment where his characteristics might be understood and where he might be afforded the supervision and recreation that would end his interest in street gangs. In March 1923, the institute advised the bureau that "placement in a home, where intelligent supervision and discipline can be given" was appropriate.
  Legal	10 Jul 1923  [5]
  	Juvenile Court hearing
  	The petition alleged that the children were not receiving proper parental care, in their mother's custody The juvenile court made a finding of dependency. It appointed the Jewish Home Finding Society guardian with the right to place the children in foster homes, and it ordered Joseph Rubenstein to pay the court clerk $4 per week for the support of each child
  Residence	10 Jul 1923	Roosevelt Road, Chicago, Illinois, USA   [5]
  	The border between Jewish and Italian districts, in their mother's custody,
  Education	Between 1924 and 1925	Schley Grammar School, Chicago, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Legal	24 Nov 1924  [5]
  	Juvenile Court order vacated.
  	signified the termination of the guardianship and the return of the children to their mother. On April 8, 1925, the case was continued "generally," meaning that it was inactive but could be reactivated if the court so desired.
  Legal	Abt 1930  [5]
  	during the depression he served a short jail sentence for the unauthorized sale of copyrighted sheet music
  Census	1 Apr 1930	South Kostner Avenue, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [4]
  	Census date is 12th & 14th With other and 5 siblings
  Occupation	1933  [5]
  	Sold handicapper's tip sheet for horseraces at Santa Anita racetrack
  Residence	1933	Los Angeles, California, USA   [5]
  	with several friends from Chicago
  Occupation	Aft 1933  [5]
  	Sold tip sheets at Meadow Bay racetrack and later a door-to-door salesman of subscriptions to San Francisco newspapers
  Residence	Aft 1933	San Francisco, California, USA   [5]
  	until 1938, 1939 or 1940 but may have returned to Chicago in 1937 About June 1934, his divorced sister Eva and her son lived with him. In 1936, Eva married Frank Granovsky, also known as Frank Grant, in San Francisco, and Ruby shared a four-room apartment with them and Ronald for a short while
  Occupation	1937  [5]
  	Unemployed but scalping tickets and buying watches and other small items for resale at discount prices.
  	In "about 1937" he became active in Local 20467 of the Scrap Iron and Junk Handlers Union.
  Residence	1937	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  Census	1 Apr 1940	Independence Boulevard, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [3]
  	With both parents and 4 siblings
  Occupation	1 Apr 1940  [3]
  	Secretary for a Union (private work)
  Occupation	1941  [5]
  	With Harry Epstein organized the Spartan Novelty Co.
  	a small firm that sold in various northeastern States small cedar chests containing candy and gambling devices known as punchboards
  Residence	1941  [5]
  	No fixed abode, living in hotels
  Service	Sep 1941  [5]
  	Declared eligible for the draft. Subsequently he appeared before a local board and was reclassified
  Occupation	Nov 1941	New York, New York, USA   [5]
  	selling punchboards
  Residence	Abt Nov 1941	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA   [5]
  	"Late 1941" continued his punchboard business through the mail
  Occupation	Abt Dec 1941  [5]
  	sold busts of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
  Occupation	Aft 7 Dec 1941  [5]
  	with friends, designed and sold plaques commemorating the attack on Pearl Harbour.
  	the venture was impeded by Ruby's perfectionistic approach to details of design which resulted in numerous production delays and by the time the plaque was copyrighted and ready for sale, the market was flooded with similar items.
  Occupation	Between 1942 and 1943  [5]
  	employed by the Globe Auto Glass Co. and Universal Sales Co.
  Service	Between 21 May 1943 and 21 Feb 1946  [5]
  	U.S. Army Air Forces, aircraft mechanic
  	Following an unsuccessful appearance before his appeal board. "Except for 5 weeks in Farmingdale, N.Y., Ruby spent his military days at various airbases in the South. He received the basic training given all recruits and advanced training as an aircraft mechanic On August 2, 1943, he passed marksmanship tests with the .30 caliber carbine and the .45 caliber submachinegun, but failed with the .30 caliber rifle. On February 10, 1944, he earned a sharpshooter's rating for his firing of an M1 .30 caliber carbine. His character and efficiency ratings, when determined, were excellent. After attaining the rank of private first class and receiving the good conduct medal, Ruby was honorably discharged on February 21, 1946. "
  Occupation	1946  [5]
  	Joined his 3 brothers in the Earl Products Co. In charge of Sales
  	The company manufactured and sold small cedar chests and distributed punchboards. In addition, it made aluminum salt and pepper shakers, key chains, bottle openers, screwdrivers, and small hammers.
  Legal	1947  [5]
  	Legally changed his name from Rubenstein to Ruby
  Occupation	Between 1947 and 1952  [5]
  	helped sister Eva Grant manage the Singapore Supper Club
  	He later ran the club and changed its name to The Silver Spur Club, a dancehall selling beer.
  Occupation	Between 1947 and 1952  [5]
  	numerous other commercial ventures
  	Sold costume jewelry at discount rates, Sold an arthritic preparation and manufactured and sold "Miniron," a liquid vitamin formula. Furnished entertainment for a Dallas hotel, Promoted records for musicians sold English stainless steel razor blades
  Occupation	Between 1947 and 1963  [5]
  	operation of nightclubs and dancehalls (main source of income)
  Residence	1947	Dallas, Texas, USA   [5]
  Legal	30 Dec 1947  [5]
  	Changed his name to Jack L. Ruby
  	Secured a decree from the 68th Judicial District Court of Dallas. His petition alleged that he sought the change because the name Rubenstein was misunderstood and too long and because he was "well known" as Jack L. Ruby
  Legal	4 Feb 1949  [5]
  	Paid a $10 fine for disturbing the peace
  Occupation	Abt 1951  [5]
  	Sold sewing machine attachments at the Texas State Fair.
  Occupation	Abt 1952  [5]
  	Managed, "Little Daddy" Nelson, who appeared at the Silver Spur, the Vegas Club, and the Bob Wills Ranch House.
  Occupation	1952  [5]
  	Purchased the Bob Wills Ranch House (a western type nightclub)
  Residence	Aft Jul 1952	Cotton Bowl Hotel, Dallas, Texas, USA   [5]
  	Substantial financial reversals which led to depression and he had a "mental breakdown," and "hibernated" in the Cotton Bowl Hotel in Dallas for 3 or 4 months, declining to see his friends. returned to Chicago but only for about 6 weeks
  Occupation	1953  [5]
  	briefly managed the Ervay Theater (a motion picture house)
  Occupation	Between 1953 and 1963  [5]
  	Regained ownership of the Silver Spur Club and gained an interest in the Vegas Club
  	For a few months during this period, Ruby also operated Hernando's Hideaway, but this venture proved unsuccessful
  Occupation	Oct 1953  [5]
  	Assisted the producers of a carnival show, "How Hollywood Makes Movies," appearing at the Texas State Fair.
  Occupation	1954  [5]
  	Became interested in the sale of pizza crusts to Dallas restaurants.
  Legal	1 May 1954  [5]
  	Arrested for allegedly carrying a concealed weapon and violating a peace bond
  	No charges were filed and was released on the same day.
  Legal	5 Dec 1954  [5]
  	arrested for allegedly violating State liquor laws
  	by selling liquor after hours. Tthe complaint was dismissed on 8th February 1955
  Occupation	Between 1958 and 1959  [5]
  	Attempted to build and sell log cabins at a Texas lake resort.
  Occupation	1959  [5]
  	became a partner of Joe Slatin in establishing the Sovereign Club
  	a private club that was apparently permitted by Texas law to sell liquor to members The venture was not successful but he discontinued club memberships, even though this would prevent the sale of liquor, and offered striptease shows as a substitute attraction The Sovereign's name was changed to the Carousel Club. It was one of three downtown Dallas burlesque clubs and served champagne, beer, "setups" and pizza, its only food.
  Occupation	1959  [5]
  	Investigated the possibility of selling jeeps to Cuba
  Legal	21 Jun 1959  [5]
  	arrested for allegedly permitting dancing after hours
  	The complaint was dismissed on 8th July 1959.
  Legal	21 Aug 1960  [5]
  	Arrested for allegedly permitting dancing after hours.
  	Posted $25 bond and was released on that date.
  Legal	12 Feb 1963  [5]
  	Arrested on a charge of simple assault
  	Found not guilty 27th Feb 1963
  Legal	14 Mar 1963  [5]
  	Arrested for allegedly ignoring traffic summonses
  	$35 bond was posted.
  Legal	26 Jul 1963  [5]
  	Suspected of carrying a concealed weapon.
  	No charges were filed and was released on the same day
  Occupation	Nov 1963  [5]
  	Unsuccessfully attempted to sell "twistboards,"
  	- an exercising device consisting of two square fiberboards separated by ball bearings. Despite the contrary advice of his brother Earl, Jack ordered several dozen twistboards and had 2,000 promotional flyers published. He had one of his strippers demonstrate the twistboards at the Texas Products Show during the first week of November 1963.
  Legal	24 Nov 1963	Dallas Police Headquarters, Dallas, Texas, USA
  	Fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald.
  Legal	14 Mar 1964	Dallas, Texas, USA
  	Convicted of murder with malice and sentenced to death.
  Legal	5 Oct 1966
  	The court ruled that his motion for a change of venue before the original trial court should have been granted
  	His conviction and death sentence were overturned. Arrangements were underway for a new trial to be held in February 1967 in Wichita Falls, Texas
  Medical Condition	9 Dec 1966	Parkland Hospital, Dallas, Texas, USA
  	Admitted with pneumonia. Next day diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer.
  	.
  Name	"Sparky"  [5]
  Name	Jack L Ruby
  	Legally changed to this in 1947
  Name	Jack Rubenstein  [3, 4]
  Name	Jack Ruby  [1, 6]
  	Possible soon after 1947 when he moved to Dallas
  Name	Jacob Leon Rubenstein  [5]
  	Adopted the middle name Leon, which he used only infrequently, in memory of his friend Leon Cooke, who was shot in 1939.
  Name	Jacob Rubinstein  [2]
  Occupation	1967  [6]
  	Night Club owner / Entertaiment
  Died	3 Jan 1967	Parkland Hospital, Dallas, Texas, USA   [6]
  	Cause: Pulmonary emboli as immediate cause of death, secondary to bronchiolar carcinoma of the lu
  Buried	Westlawn Cemetery, Norridge, Cook, Illinois, USA   [1, 6]
  	Violet Section, Plot 2 lot 9
  Person ID	I8412	Ruby
  Last Modified	23 Feb 2019

  
  

  Father	Joseph Rubenstein,   b. 1871, Sokolov, near Warsaw, Poland ,   d. 24 Dec 1958, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA  (Age 87 years)
  Mother	Fannie Turek Rutkowski,   b. Mar 1878, Lomzer, Poland ,   d. 11 Apr 1944, Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, USA  (Age ~ 66 years)
  Married	Between 1893 and 1898  [1, 5]
  	"While Joseph Runebstein was in the army, he married Fannie Turek Rutkowski; the marriage was arranged, as was customary, by a professional matchmaker"
  Married	Abt 1898  [7]
  Divorced	Between 1920 and 1930  [4]
  	Married on 1920 census & all family together. On 1930 census they are not together and Jospeh recorded as divorced but Fannie recorded as married. On the 1940 census both recorded as married and the family are together again. According to Find a Grave, they separated in the spring of 1921
  Separation	1921  [5]
  	In 1937 Mrs. Rubenstein reported that she had desired a divorce 15 years earlier, but her husband had been opposed to it. The predominant causes of the separation were apparently Joseph Rubenstein's excessive drinking and Fannie Rubenstein's uncontrollable temper. She resented her numerous pregnancies, believed her husband to be unfaithful, and nagged him because he failed to make enough money
  Family ID	F2890	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Married	Y  [6]
  	never married
  Last Modified	28 Sep 2018
  Family ID	F2892	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Legal - On trial for murder - Between 4 and 14 Mar 1964 - Dallas, Texas, USA Birth - Abt 1910 - Illinois, USA Birth - Abt 1911 - Illinois, USA Residence - 1911 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Birth - 3 Mar 1911 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Birth - 13 Mar 1911 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Birth - 19 Mar 1911 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Born - 25 Mar 1911 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Birth - 21 Apr 1911 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Birth - 25 Apr 1911 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Birth - 26 Apr 1911 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Birth - 23 Jun 1911 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Residence - Between 1916 and 1921 - 1232 Morgan Street, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Education - through to the 1920 - 1921 term - 24 Oct 1916 - Smyth Grammar School, Chicago, Illinois, USA Census - 2 Jan 1920 - Morgan Street, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Education - Between 1921 and 1922 - Clarke School, Chicago, Illinois, USA Residence - 1922 - Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Residence - 10 Jul 1923 - Roosevelt Road, Chicago, Illinois, USA Education - Between 1924 and 1925 - Schley Grammar School, Chicago, Illinois, USA Census - 1 Apr 1930 - South Kostner Avenue, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Residence - 1933 - Los Angeles, California, USA Residence - Aft 1933 - San Francisco, California, USA Residence - 1937 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Census - 1 Apr 1940 - Independence Boulevard, Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Occupation - selling punchboards - Nov 1941 - New York, New York, USA Residence - Abt Nov 1941 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA Residence - 1947 - Dallas, Texas, USA Residence - Aft Jul 1952 - Cotton Bowl Hotel, Dallas, Texas, USA Legal - Fatally shot Lee Harvey Oswald. - 24 Nov 1963 - Dallas Police Headquarters, Dallas, Texas, USA Legal - Convicted of murder with malice and sentenced to death. - 14 Mar 1964 - Dallas, Texas, USA Medical Condition - Admitted with pneumonia. Next day diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. - 9 Dec 1966 - Parkland Hospital, Dallas, Texas, USA Died - Cause: Pulmonary emboli as immediate cause of death, secondary to bronchiolar carcinoma of the lu - 3 Jan 1967 - Parkland Hospital, Dallas, Texas, USA Buried - - Westlawn Cemetery, Norridge, Cook, Illinois, USA  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Documents

  Full biography of Jack Ruby

  
  

• Notes

  Detailed Biograpghy in The Warren Commision Report Appendix 16: A Biography of Jack Ruby, held at US National Archives and on line at https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/appendix-16.html

  
  

• Sources

  [S74] Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com. [S70] 1920 Census - US, available online from various sources. [S72] 1940 Census - US, available online from various sources. [S71] 1930 Census - US, available online from various sources. [S356] The Warren Commision Report_Appendix 16. [S217] Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982, www.ancestry.com. [S69] 1910 Census - US, available online from various sources.