* Phillip Rueb, Retired Garage Owner, War Vet

Phillip Rueb, the retired owner of Valley Garage, the only independent auto repair shop in Camarillo for 25 years, died Oct. 5 in Bullhead City, Ariz., after a lengthy illness. He was 82.

Rueb was born on April 15, 1914, in Wishek, N.D. After growing tired of the state’s frigid winters, Rueb moved to Sacramento while in his 20s.

Rueb worked for several years at a number of orchards and dairies in the Sacramento Valley until the beginning of World War II, when he was drafted into the Army. He served for five years in the South Pacific.

“He started his career as a mechanic in the motor pool,” said his youngest daughter, Jackie Sheehan of Camarillo.

While attending a USO dance in 1941, Rueb met his wife of 51 years, Beverly. They dated for two months and corresponded throughout the war as Rueb hopped from island to island battling Japanese forces.

They were married in 1945, after the war ended.

In 1956, Rueb established the Valley Garage on Lewis Road, when Camarillo was a collection of small villages separated by orchards and vegetable fields.

“The only neon light in town was at the Candle Lite Motel,” Sheehan said. The garage closed in 1981.

Among Rueb’s interests were playing golf and working around the house. He also helped build the first ward building for the Camarillo stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sheehan said.

“He was very family-oriented,” she said. “He wasn’t a man who had a lot of interests outside his work and family.”

Rueb is survived by his wife, Sheehan and three other daughters: Carolyn Wheeler of Moorpark; Marilyn Brody of Encino; Joanne Eddy of Pleasanton; and eight grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. at Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary in Camarillo. Interment will follow at Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo.

Visitation will be held for two hours prior to Thursday’s service.

Arrangements are under the direction of Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary in Camarillo.