Corps of Engineers inducts Remer, Minnesota, resident to district’s Hall of Fame

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, recently named Jim Ruyak of Remer, Minnesota, as one of its 2023 hall of fame inductees.

Ruyak, former Mississippi River headwaters project area manager, was honored for a career with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that spanned 59 years. After starting with the Pittsburgh District, he joined St. Paul in 1973 to work on constructing La Farge Dam. Jim is well known in Minot, North Dakota, leading flood fights in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1979 sparing the city for which he received the Exceptional (Distinguished) Civilian Service award, the highest civilian award. In 1979 he became the project area manager for the six Mississippi River headwaters dams.

After the Persian Gulf war in 1991, Jim deployed on the first of three tours to Kuwait for which he received the Superior Civilian Service award.  After the 2011 twin towers attack, and into 2019, Jim was assigned to the Transatlantic Division to recruit civilians for the Corps’ mission in Afghanistan. Ruyak died at his home in Remer, Minnesota, in 2019.

“Jim has left a lasting legacy in the St. Paul district, and around the world in a variety of missions,” said Col. Eric Swenson. “After an exceptional 59-year career, including a great history of fighting floods in this area, this honor is a lasting tribute to a committed public servant.”

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