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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Daniel ‘Dan’ Edward Rullman
2021
Watertown, WI - Daniel ‘Dan’ Edward Rullman son of Edward & Hildegard Rullman was born in Aurora, Indiana at home. His family home overlooked the Ohio River and you could feel the floors vibrate when the coalbearing barges traveled down the river.
He graduated from Aurora High School in 1954
and received a scholarship to Purdue University from which he graduated with a degree
in Civil Engineering in 1958. While attending Purdue, he was a member of the
ROTC Drill Team which competed Nationally at the Pentagon 2 years in a row. Upon
graduation he was able to get a job with the Wisconsin State Highway Department.
His 1st assignment was as the chief engineer of rebuilding Watertown’s Highway
26 bridge and the railway overpass, which fit like a glove. That stretch of
highway from Johnson Creek to Watertown was assessed as one of the smoothest in
the state of Wisconsin.
This assignment brought him to the Watertown/Johnson Creek area, where he met the Love of His Life Sandra Buske. They were happily married on June 18th, 1961 and celebrated their 60th Anniversary by taking their entire Family to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee this summer. Dan and Sandy raised 4 loving children in the home that they shared for 57 years. They joined Immanuel Lutheran Church where in his early membership, Dan served on the Church council and Church organ fund raising committee.
He became a member of the senior Church choir and that is where he met his future employer Harold A. Peterson who referred to their meeting as divine intervention. He became so successful that he decided to establish his own company DERSCO (Daniel E. Rullman Sales Company). He ended up buying out his former employer, and grew the business into one of the most successful agro engineering and design companies, based out of Watertown, WI.
He was the founder in the Baker/ Rullman Mfg. Company, which expanded across the globe into South America, Central America, Egypt, and throughout North America. Later on the company was sold first to David Schroeder and later to David Cook, some speculating that in order to work at Baker/Rullman one needs to be named David and be at least 6’4”.
Dan continued to be active as a consulting engineer for the remainder of his life. He was well known as one of the best design engineers in his field and recognized by many throughout the agricultural community as an expert designer. Customers marveled how Dan would draw complete feed mills and food processing plants on small paper napkins while dining. Dan contributed to many community projects: he was one of the donors who donated the building for the YMCA, and made donations to the old St. Mary’s Hospital, the new Watertown Regional Medical Center, the Watertown Aquatic Center, the Watertown Indoor Pool, Purdue University and UW Madison, often preferring to donate anonymously.
In his younger years, he also served as the PTO President for Schurz School and as Cub Scout Leader. He took up flying, earning a pilots license for multi-engine planes with instrumental rating to better serve customers in remote areas. He loved spending time with his children, grand children and great grand children up north at their vacation home on Little St. Germain lake, where he enjoyed boating, fishing, and cooking buckwheat/ buttermilk pancakes and making the best Bloody Mary’s.
For many years, Dan took annual fishing trips to North Spirit Lake in Canada with his Brothers, Sons and Family. Dan and Sandy traveled extensively throughout the World, visiting all continents except Antarctica, all fifty States, including Alaska and Hawaii, thanks in many parts to family members living abroad. Some of the highlights of the World that Dan and Sandy visited are the Vatican, the Duomo, pyramids of Giza, James Bond island in Thailand, Oktoberfest in Munich, toured Buckingham Palace, St. Basil’s cathedral, Eiffel tower and Louvre, climbed the Great Wall of China, scuba dived the great barrier reef of Australia, to name a few.
The Family wishes to Thank his friend and doctor Terry Turke, M.D., Dr. Goyle, Dr. Richardson, the nursing staff at Watertown Regional Medical Center, especially Ann, Amanda, Crystal, Cody and ICU staff Glenna, Shandell and Dave, the nurses from Rainbow Hospice especially Becky, Casey, Jody and John, and my RN granddaughters Chris and Angel. These professionals are worth their weight in Gold. Funeral Services will be held on Monday, August 30, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Watertown with Rev. John Swanson officiating.
Burial will take place at Oak Hill Cemetery in Watertown.
Family and friends may gather at Hafemeister Funeral Home on Sunday, August 29, 2021 from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. and at the church on Monday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the service.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church, Watertown Regional Medical Center, or your own choice.
Dan is survived by his wife Sandra, their children Rhonda (Mike) Kraemer of Watertown, Jeff (Barb) Rullman of Sun Prairie, Gregg (Monica Berg) Rullman of St. Germain, Jenny (Vladimir) Molcan of Moscow, Russia; 10 grandchildren Garrett (Kristine) Fischer, Christina (Cody) Roehl, Brad (Angela Patel) Fischer, Angel Fischer, Nathan (Samantha Mauel) Rullman, Natalie Rullman, Daniel Molcan, Alex Molcan, Tyler Kraemer, Max Berg; 2 great grand children Avery and Gunnar Roehl; Dan’s sister Ruth (Craig) Gundermann, and brothers John (Linda) Rullman, Tim (Pamela) Rullman; and many wonderful nieces and nephews. He also leaves behind countless friends and the many members of our community whose lives he has touched.
He was preceded in death by his son-in-law Glenn Fischer.
History of Watertown, Wisconsin