Obituary: Charles "Chuck" W. Ruff III

Chuck was born May 25, 1951, to Charles W. "Bill" Ruff II and Georgie Ruff, in Reno, NV. and passed on, on October 14, 2011 in San Francisco, CA, where his passion for music, during the "Summer of Love", was truly developed.

Preceded in death by his son, Charles W. "Chad" Ruff IV, father Charles W. "Bill" Ruff II, sister Merri Ruff, and his grand-parents. He is survived by his mother Georgie Ruff, Moni Ruff-Krebs 'the Love of His Life' , sons Dustin (Hilary) Ruff and Damian Ruff, and two grandchildren Maddox and Ione. Also survived by, brothers Lee (Lori) Ruff, and Scott (Carol) Ruff, sister Carol (Jay) Dargert, and numerous aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, cousins and countless friends.

Chuck started his career at twelve years old. He was in many garage bands including, Wheatstraw Blewgrass (his "rock heroes") which he joined in 1967. At sixteen, he moved to San Francisco to rebel and perfect his craft. He went on to join the Edgar Winter Group in 1972 and in 1977 joined Sammy Hagar. He also formed the Chuck Ruff Group in 1975. Chuck's most noted artistry was his drum solo in the song "Frankenstein" on the album 'They Only Come Out at Night' by the Edgar Winter Group that went on to be a number one hit.

A Celebration of Life is planned for family and close friends, for more information call the family. In lieu of flowers the family requested that you sign up to become an organ donor. Monetary donations can be made to California Pacific Medical Center Foundation. For information go to www.cpmc.org/giving.