On Aug. 27, Reuben Ambaruch of Fairfax, Va., at 95. He is survived by wife Sylvia K. Ambaruch (née Schofer); children Arthur (Beth) Ambaruch and Sharon (Steven) Baum; and grandchildren Katelyn Ambaruch, Sam Ambaruch, Matthew Baum and Julia Baum. He was predeceased by siblings Hanna Levi, Yehuda “Leon” Am-Baruch and Clara Nizan and parents Ester and Kalman Am-Baruch. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1926. As a teenager, he and the Jewish community on the European side of Istanbul watched nervously as Hitler’s armies moved into the Balkans. He joined an exodus of Jews fleeing to British-mandated Palestine. He soon found work at a British airfield as a mechanic’s assistant. His knowledge of aircraft proved invaluable to Jewish patriots fighting for independence. Soon he emerged as one of the founding members of the Israeli Air Force, flying many combat missions in the 1948 War for Independence. He moved to the United States in 1952. He had a long career working for Boeing and IBM and spent time working on the Saturn-V project.
fContributions may be sent to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum at airandspace.si.edu.
