C. Russell J. Ruppert was born September 19, 1922 in Portal, ND to Rose and John Ruppert. After completing college he enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he served in Okinawa Signal Corp. Russ married the love of his life, Marian at the Old North Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 11, 1944. They moved to Grafton and in 1952 had their son, Merle. The family then moved to Fargo, ND in 1954.