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RULUFF R. STERLING
Business enterprise has
constituted the basis of city building in America and
every legitimate and successful undertaking is a contributing factor to the progress of the community in
which it is established. In the punt two decades Detroit has enjoyed a phenomenal growth through the
development of her manufacturing and industrial interests and it is along thin line that Ruluff R. Sterling
has become active, being now president of the Sterling & Skinner Manufacturing Company and also
vice president of the Detroit Motor Casting Company.
Michigan claims him us a native son, for his birth
occurred at Sterling's Mill, April 20, 1858, his parents
being Leander and Sarah (Van Vlaek) Sterling. At
the usual age ho became a public school pupil in
Wayne county, Michigan, und when the urge to enter
business life became a dominant factor with him
he secured a position with a clothing store At Ypsilanti, Michigan, Wing there employed until he reached
the age of 25 years. He afterward engaged
in the retail shoo business at Escanaba, Michigan, for
a period of ten years and in 1892 arrived in Detroit,
where he has since made his home. Here he became a
member of the Mcline & Huberts Company and was
thus associated until 1902, when he became one of
the organizers of the Sterling & Skinner Manufacturing Company, of which he has since been the president. This company was formed for the manufacture
of brass goods for steam, water and gas plants and
for automobiles, the partners in tho undertaking being
the Messrs. Sterling, Skinner and Honey. From the
beginning Mr. Sterling has occupied the position of
chief executive officer, with Mr. Skinner as the secretary and treasurer, tho third partner, Mr. Roney,
having now passed away. The plant has always been
located on East Grand boulovard and now gives employment to one hundred and twenty-five operatives,
while the product is shipped to all parts of the United
States. During the war, under priority orders, parts
were made for trucks and submarines and thus the
plaut rendered substantial aid to the government in
the prosecution of the war.
At Buffalo, New York, Mr. Sterling was married in
1892 to Miss Sarah A. Thomas and they have become
the parents of a daughter, Ruth, who is tho wife of
Captain J. B. Saunders, U. 8. A., a West Point graduate, who is now the father of a two-year old son,
John Sterling Saunders.
Mr. Sterling has always voted with the republican
party, believing that its platform contains the best
principles of good government. An Episcopalian in
religious faith, he is a communicant of St. Paul's
cathedral. He is a member of tho Detroit Board of
Commerce and in club circles is well known as a
member of the Detroit Athletic Club,Detroit Golf
Club, Automobile Country Club and Detroit Automobile Club—associations that indicate much concerning
the naturo of his interests and recreation. There has
been from time to timo much fantastic theorizing in
regard to the cause of success, but a study of the
records of such men as It u luff It. Sterling and other
capable and prosperous representatives of commercial,
industrial and manufacturing interests In Detroit
shows that progress has in all cases resulted from close
application, indefatigable energy and a thorough
mastery of the principles underlying a particular line
to which the individual is giving his attention. It
his been by this method that Sterling has
reached bis present position, where he is in control
of a profitable trade in the field of brass manufacturing.
The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Volume 3 edited by Clarence Monroe Burton, William Stocking, Gordon K. Miller
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