Some people are off the charts when it comes to their community spirit and utter lack of self-aggrandizement. Other people are off the charts when it comes to the range of their abilities and their talent for getting things done.

John Ruch, president of Historic Harmony Inc. from l984 to l990 and again from l995 until his death on Nov. 4, was both types of person rolled into one.

Early on, he was impressed by the accomplishments of Harmony Museum volunteers whose efforts gained National Historic Landmark District status for the center of Harmony Borough in 1974. Under John’s decades of stewardship, the responsibilities that come with this important national designation have been carried out by a dedicated board of directors. He always acknowledged and respected those who created the museum and worked to preserve the town’s heritage.

In l985 he learned that some Harmony Borough Council members were considering ways to preserve historic structures built by the founding Harmonists. He attended council meetings regularly for a year, offering samples of historic district ordinances adopted by other municipalities. Historic Harmony conducted a community-wide survey of vintage buildings that laid the groundwork for council’s enactment of a historic zoning ordinance and formation of an Architectural Review Board. Not a single Harmonist-era building within the historic district has been destroyed since.

Under his leadership the Harmony Museum has developed into Butler County’s leading museum and the 25th largest museum in terms of visitors in Western Pennsylvania.

Running a museum whose annual budget is just north of $l00,000 and which receives no public funding is not easy. Fortunately, John was a wizard at drawing up the annual budget and finding the money, a challenge exacerbated in recent years by record-low interest rates on the museum’s modest investments.

Perhaps his most impressive financial achievement was Historic Harmony’s acquisition of the l805 Harmonist barn. It was John’s powers of persuasion that enabled Historic Harmony’s members and friends to come up with $80,000 at short notice.

Old buildings are invariably high maintenance, and the Harmonist and early Mennonite-era buildings owned by Historic Harmony are no exception. Much expertise and eternal vigilance are required to keep track of what needs to be fixed or replaced, how and by whom repairs and maintenance should be done, and how to pay for it. John was amazing at his practical knowledge and his ability to choose from the best alternatives.

Journalism and public relations were John’s 9 to 5 professions, and he put the skills and sensibilities of both trades to work on behalf of Harmony. Because he seemed to know everyone, you would swear that he must have been descended from the original settlers of western Butler County. In fact he moved to the Harmony area in 1982.

He sent out endless press releases and had an excellent nose for assessing which advertising outlets yielded the best results. Though sitting through them sometimes required the patience of a saint, he attended and spoke at a vast number of Harmony borough council meetings.

John understood the importance of networking and coalition building as thoroughly as anyone I have ever known. The need for a thriving Harmony business community was a fixed reference point in his thinking, and without his support a viable Harmony Business Association might not have seen the light of day.

But most importantly of all, John understood that the museum was absolutely dependent on volunteers. He did everything in his power to make the museum volunteer-friendly, and in fact the number of volunteer hours logged runs well into four figures annually. John himself was the biggest volunteer of all. He never received so much as a penny for his work, but on the contrary over the years made massive donations to Historic Harmony.

While ever attentive to local details, John never lost sight of the fact that Harmony has always been part of a larger world. As if taking care of the museum with the tenacity (and sometimes the ferocity) of a mother bear wasn’t enough, John found the time and energy to serve for several years on the board of Friends of Old Economy Village.

In 2008, he organized a journey to Württemberg so that a dozen of us could see and learn at first hand where George Rapp and his fellow Harmonists came from. It was an unforgettable experience.

Just before he died, John received word that the inclusion of the Mennonite meeting house on the National Register of Historic Places had been made official. It was a fitting end to a life of public service well lived.

We mourn his passing.

Joe White lives in Harmony in the Frederick Rapp House, built in 1811. He is the treasurer of Historic Harmony Inc.