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b u o y. specifically designed and dedicated
USLSS crew fired the Lyle gun but the to providing funeral services. Up
hypothermic and frostbitten crew on until this time, funeral parlors on
the Place was unable to retrieve the Long Island were merely converted
line due to hypothermia. By this time Victorian homes.
two men, Captain William Squires In 1908, C.W. Ruland and his sons,
and the cook, Charlie Morrison, Clarence W. and John R. Ruland,
had fallen from the rigging where opened their new funeral home at
the men had taken shelter from the corner of Lake Street and
the freezing water. Other rescue North Ocean Avenue (which is now
attempts were unsuccessful. t h e h o m e o f R e e s e ’s 1 9 0 0 p u b ).
Lifesavers waited until morning
when they found only two of the four To q u o t e T h e Bro o k l y n D a i l y E a g l e ,
remaining men on board were still “Mr. Ruland can well be called a
alive. By midnight of the second pioneer in his profession on Long
day they were able to launch a Island by reason of his leadership in
rescue boat and retrieve the two modernism… Every modern device
men, 40 hours after the boat first known to the profession is found at
became stranded. R u l an d ’s, an d e ffi c i e n c y, c o mb i n e d
Six crew members perished during with prompt, courteous, honest
the rescue efforts, two were rescued, service, has been met with a large
only one survived. and merited patronage.”
Eight plots were placed in the
Lakeview Cemetery in Patchogue In 1909, John R. Ruland
for the lost sailors, but only four graduated from the
are buried there, Gustave Jaiby, famous Renouard
Charles Allen, August Olson and School of Embalming
Fritz Oscar Ward. and gradually took over
the daily operations of
( S O U R C E : h t t p s : / / w w w. n p s . g o v / f i i s / l e a r n / the funeral home from his John R Ruland
historyculture/wreck-of-the-louis-v-place.htm)
father - eventually John’s own sons,
T h e Bro o k l y n D ai l y E ag l e ’s re p o r t e r Wallace and George Ruland, would
stated that it was estimated that join the firm as well.
over a thousand people journeyed
on the ice across the Great South For the next 50 years, the Ruland
Bay from Bellport to Bay Shore to family continued to serve the residents
view the two wrecks. “The bodies of Patchogue and the surrounding
presented a horrible sight and communities in their funeral parlor
scores of people, to satisfy their at the corner of North Ocean Avenue
m o r b i d c u r i o s i t y, w e n t t o R u l an d ’s and Lake Street. In the 1940’s and
undertaking rooms to see them.” 50’s, funerals became more elaborate
and many families expressed a desire
(SOURCE: Patchogue Advance, Feb. 15, 1895) for larger rooms and greater parking
facilities. In response, the Ruland
Following this tragedy, C. W. Ruland family broke ground on a new and
saw the importance of establishing expanded facility located on a tract
a state-of-the-art facility for his of farmland a mile from their original
f am i l y ’s e n d e av o r s an d , i n 1 9 0 6 , funeral home. In 1958, this new
began construction on a building facility was completed and continues
to serve as our current home.

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