Irving Ruckens.

Whenever one bumped into him, Irv had something new to relate. He always seemed to be coming from or going to a concert or lecture; he and his wife, Sylvia, were an ever-present couple at Juilliard events. Ruckens’s continued participation was even more interesting in light of the fact that he was Juilliard’s assistant controller and then controller for nearly 20 years (1969-1988). Helping to manage the School’s endowment as well as its day-to-day financial operations, he came to know the School from top to bottom. He grew devoted to Juilliard and its mission through interaction with faculty, staff, and students. His attachment to the School remained strong to his death on August 6, in Manhattan. He was 88 years old.

Born in 1912 in Montreal, Irving Ruckens left home after high school and joined a carnival. Each year at the carnival season’s end, he would “ride the rails,” as he said, dreaming about writing the great Canadian novel until the next season came. He got part of his adventurous spirit from his Uncle Schloima (Solomon), a born salesman who could sell practically anything, including high-buttoned shoes to nuns in Quebecois convents. He also had penchant for exotic cars: Moons, Chandlers, and Dusenbergs. Schloima drove his nephew in one of these cars to Boston on a business trip; Irv stayed and joined another carnival. This time, when the carnival season came to an end, he made his way to New York City.

In New York, Ruckens took free courses offered through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), tried his hand at short-story writing, and got involved in the peace movement. He joined the American League Against War and Fascism, a coalition of liberal and left-wing organizations united to oppose war and the fascist governments in Europe that threatened peace. At a League meeting in 1936 he met Sylvia, and they were married two years later. To pay the rent, Irv worked as a bookkeeper.

Drafted into the U.S. Army in World War II, Ruckens served in the 66th Infantry Division and the 28th Infantry Division (the “Keystone” Division). He took part in the Allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 and, due to his ability to speak French, performed dangerous intelligence work behind the German lines with members of the French Resistance. During the bloody fighting among the Normandy hedgerows, he helped liberate the town of Brouains. At a D-Day remembrance celebration 50 years later, Brouains honored Irv, one of its liberators, by naming a street for him: Place Irving Ruckens.

After the war, Irv earned a B.S. degree in accounting from Columbia University and worked in the tax departments of various Wall Street firms, including Lybrand & Ross Brothers and the Bank of New York. By 1969, he was in the running for a good job at the Internal Revenue Service. He would have been set for life. “It wasn’t really my cup of tea,” Ruckens once admitted, “but it would have paid pretty well--benefits, pension, civil service and all that.”

Around the same time, Ruckens answered a blind classified advertisement in The New York Times for a music school searching for an accountant. When he got no response to his resume, he decided to take the IRS job and was about to begin a six-month training period when Juilliard called and asked for an interview. More a lover of the arts than taxes, he was enticed. “Well, if it were a question of Juilliard or the IRS… I said, ‘Okay.’ And that’s how it started,” Ruckens said.

The Ruckenses were longtime residents of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where Irv was involved in community affairs and arts promotion. He contributed articles to various publications, including the Chinese-American Times, and founded a nonprofit called Dynarts, Inc., whose aim was to bring the various cultures of the Lower East Side together through publicly staged music events. During its short life, Dynarts garnered the attention of Mayor John V. Lindsey and cellist Pablo Casals, among others.

Even in retirement, Irv remained very active. He and Sylvia traveled frequently and attended concerts, plays, and lectures. What’s more, they became philanthropists in their old age. They established the Lily Parker Scholarship in French at Columbia. At Juilliard, they created five charitable gift annuities over the past six years, some unrestricted and some to support the Drama Division and the Professional Intern Program.

Irving Ruckens is survived by Sylvia and many devoted friends. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Peter I. Fifield is operations manager of The Campaign for Juilliard.