Karlis Visvaldis Rutins

Karlis Visvaldis Rutins passed away on April 26th, 2021, at the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation at Bennington, Vermont, after a long illness. Karlis was born in Riga, Latvia, in the Ciekurkalns district, on May 17th, 1937 as the youngest of three children. His father Alfred Rutins was an officer in the Latvian Army assigned to Military Intelligence. His mother Anna Rutins was an agronomist and homemaker. His early childhood was peaceful and happy, with most of the year spent in Riga and the summers with relatives on their farm in the Latvian countryside alongside his brother Gunars and his sister Ingrida. At the age of three, he witnessed the illegal forced annexation of the independent nation of Latvia by the Soviet Union as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact with Nazi Germany. Along with the Soviets came terror and the oppression of a free people. Only a year later, in 1941, Nazi Germany broke the pact, invaded the Soviet Union and conquered Latvia and the other Baltic states. The arrival of the Nazis brought a new wave of terror and oppression, which continued up to 1944, when the Soviets were back on the offensive and pushing into the Baltic states on their way to Berlin. At this point, at the age of seven, Karlis and his family fled along with hundreds of thousands of other Latvians, seeking to escape the indiscriminate destruction of total war. Riga was initially encircled, but when the encirclement was broken, his father managed to arrange a spot for them on a train and they left on temporary rail tracks, hearing the sounds of combat in the distance as the train moved, then stopped and started again and seeing the remnants of other destroyed trains along their route. They fled across Europe during late 1944 and early 1945 as refugees with only what they could carry, seeking help and lodging where they could. They narrowly avoided the destruction of Dresden but endured many other trials, including a last minute escape from Soviet “repatriation” as Patton’s 3rd Army withdrew to the final negotiated post-war position. They thus ended up in the American Zone of West Germany as World War 2 came to a close. Unfortunately, the Soviets never intended to allow Latvia to again be independent and the negotiations that ended World War 2 left much of Eastern Europe, including the formerly free Baltic States, as conquered vassals of the Soviet Union. Knowing they could not return home and not knowing if Latvia would ever again be free, they became Displaced Persons or “DPs” in the charge of the UN and the United States. Karlis spent the next years of his childhood in the Esslingen DP Camp near Stuttgart, many Latvian refugees ended up and created their own “Little Latvia” of sorts within the camp to preserve the Latvian language, culture and history. Karlis’ family applied for immigration to the United States of America and in 1950 they boarded a Liberty Ship and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to this land of opportunity, arriving on these shores, as so many have before, with great hope but little in the way of means. He and his family were sponsored by a community church in New Providence, NJ where they made a new home. Karlis adjusted well to the U.S.A. and after completing High School, he attended Brown University, N.J. Institute of Technology and Columbia University, completing Bachelor’s and Master’s degress in Management and Industrial Engineering. He also volunteered and served in the New Jersey National Guard. In the United States, Karlis re-connected with the Latvian community in America and was an active member of the Latvian church and a regular volunteer and participant at social and holiday events. It was through the Latvian community that he met his future wife, Margita Anderson, whose family were also from Latvia but had immigrated to the United States later in 1959 after being initially accepted to Venezuela. They fell in love and married in 1966 at the Latvian Church in Yonkers, NY. He started his successful post-university professional career at IBM, Eastman Kodak and later Hoechst - Celanese, where he stayed for two decades and rose to the level of Vice President of Information Systems, Organization Planning and Quality. He later went on to have a successful consulting career with the ODIN group and Covansys as well as several business ventures in Latvia once it regained its freedom, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. Throughout his business dealings, he was loyal and honest to both his employers and his employees and hired and guided many who went on to outstanding careers of their own. During these years of increasing professional responsibility, he also found time to be at home, where he was a faithful and loving husband to his wife of 54 years, Margita, a wonderful father to his son Erik and a good and trusted friend to many. Among his many joys were travel and good food, wine and music. During his life he was able to visit many parts of the world, some for business and others for pleasure. Margita and later also Erik joined him on many of these trips, to their great delight. Karlis’ enthusiasm for exploring new places, meeting new people and also for travel as a way of walking in the footsteps of history never diminished and every journey added to his collection of great stories. Karlis’ stories and his talent in sharing them delighted many, both within his family and among his friends and acquaintances. He never lacked material for good conversations and to his last days, he was able to entertain and amuse those who cared for him. In 2003, Karlis and Margia moved to Vermont, where Erik and his wife Patricia had setup a business of their own. Karlis joined Erik in this business and for several years they worked together out of the same office, first in North Bennington, then later in East Arlington. When his sister Ingrida’s health started to fail, he and Margita helped her move to Bennington to stay at the Fillmore Pond retirement community, where he visited her regularly and helped out as he could. In 2006, there was a new arrival on the scene, in the form of Aleks, Erik’s son and Karlis and Margita’s grandson. The early years of Aleks’ life were filled with frequent visits with Karlis and Margita, his beloved “Opaps” and “Abuelita”. Many of Aleks’ firsts before Kindergarten happened in the company of both his parents and his grandparents, who enjoyed playing an active role in his upbringing. During 2011, Karlis’ own health started to decline significantly and by 2013 he and Margita moved to join Erik, Patricia and their son (and Karlis’ grandson) Aleks who had also sold their home to move into a new shared home in East Arlington. There all lived as part of a new multi-generational household, focused on helping each other and on raising Aleks. The last few years were the most difficult for Karlis and he endured great trials through various chronic and debilitating illnesses which caused him significant suffering, especially in this last year. In July of 2020 during the pandemic, he left home to go to the hospital and was not able to recover enough to be able to return, after which he received care from the kind and commendable staff at the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation. Nonetheless, he met the challenges life gave him with a notable bravery which set an example for those who bore witness. Even as illness overtook him in his last months, the happy spirit, the smile, the spirit of adventure and the charm which were with him from his earliest days remained with him to the end. He will always be remembered with great love by his wife Margita, his son Erik and wife Patricia and his grandson Aleks as well as many other family members, friends and caregivers who knew him through the years of his life.