James Walter Ruskowski

James Walter Ruskowski

James (Jim) Walter Ruskowski was born to Hazel and Walter Ruskowski on July 24, 1945, in Fort Smith, Arkansas. After his dad was discharged from the army after World War 2, Walter took the family to the greater Chicagoland area, moving just across the Indiana state line to Munster, Indiana.

The Ruskowski family was a committed Christian family serving at the First Baptist Church of Hammond under the leadership of pastor Jack Hyles. Jim made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior at the age of 14 and was baptized the following week.

Jim graduated from Hammond High School in 1964, then attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC, where he studied to become an artist, graduating in 1968.

After college, Jim was drafted into the United States Marine Corps, where he served in Vietnam. Jim was honorably discharged, receiving the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnamese Campaign Medal, the Vietnamese Service Medal with one star, the Combat Action Ribbon, and designation as an M-14 Sharpshooter.

A year after his discharge, Jim’s curiosity led him on a journey to see the world, hitchhiking across Europe and Africa, before returning to Chicago, where he enjoyed a career in commercial Art. One of Jim’s proudest career moments was designing the major ad campaign for the Shedd Aquarium in 1990-91 with billboards of the famous blue whale posted around the tri-state area of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana.

Jim loved motorcycles. Although he survived the war without serious injury, Jim was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle in Chicago. The injuries sustained included the loss of his left leg from just below the knee, greatly impacting the rest of his life.

Jim loved animals, having dogs growing up, and cats in his adult years, and Jim loved his family. He loved Uncle Bill and Aunt Babby, held his father up as the standard of a real man of God, and adored his loving mother. He left Chicago, moving to Oklahoma in 1998 to help care for his aging father.

One of Jim’s passions was fishing. He had a close bond with Grandad Koch, who was the epitome of being an outdoorsman, hunter, and fisherman. Jim fished everywhere he went. Fishing was a great joy for Jim in his downtime.

Jim stepped into the arms of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, early Sunday morning, March 29, 2026, at the age of eighty. He is survived by his mother, Hazel (Aunt Lucy) of the home, and numerous cousins.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Liberty Church in Edmond to support ministries in Israel.