Forty Shades of Grey Hair

Answers the burning questions “Who Am I?” and “What Have I Been Doing?” and “Am I Better off Now than I Was 4(0) Years Ago?”

Who Am I? People continue to ask me “What do you prefer to be called: ‘Richard’ or ‘Dick’?”  In truth, you can call me either.  Just don’t call me Bob.

What Have I Been Doing?  After graduating from Mt. Lebanon, I went to Yale where I roomed with fellow Lebo classmate Jeff Sell.  Jeff and our other roommates taught me how to play Bridge, Spades and Hearts for the next four years.  I occasionally ran into Dean Calland and Dan Huntley as well, and rode back and forth from New Haven to Pgh with John Langford’s older brother Andy.  I learned valuable life-skills and lessons (e.g., what side the water glass goes on; Union benefits are great; and Cash is King, etc) by working as a waiter and bus boy in the college dining halls, and selling firewood on the street corners of New Haven.  During the summers, I returned to Pittsburgh where Scott Manning’s neighbor got us both summer jobs working at U.S. Steel’s Clairton mill.  The mill job impressed upon me the need to complete my college education.  It also impressed upon me how many ways the F-bomb can be dropped in one sentence.  Scott was kind enough not only to teach me how to drive a stick on his new Fiat Spider, but also to refrain from dropping the F-bomb on me too much himself during my remedial driving lessons.

After college, Jeff’s dad, the former Dean of the University Pittsburgh Law School and still then an active member of the faculty, encouraged me to attend Pitt Law School in Oakland on the grounds where beloved Forbes Field used to be.  One of the few things I managed to recall from Law School is the commemorative marker showing the spot in the left field wall where Bill Mazeroski’s 9^th inning walk-off homerun cleared the wall and clinched the 1960 World Series for the Pirates over the Yankees.  The wall section has since been relocated to the new PNC Park.  I recall often visiting Frankie Gustine’s Lounge to listen to bluegrass music with Eric Schuette and Tom Gallagher, and often feasting on a dog-with-the-works at The Dirty O.  When Harry Bradley was in town we listened to the Iron City House Rockers at The Decade Lounge in Oakland; and I’ll never forget seeing Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders perform there before the fire marshal had to send us all home.

I got my law degree in 1980, passed the PA and DC Bars, and took a job in DC working as an attorney for the U.S. General Accounting Office.  Fellow Lebo and Pitt Law Grad, Ron Schneider, also worked with me at GAO.  Ron’s life was tragically cut short by an insidious disease that people were  just learning about; AIDS  would go on to end the “free love” generation of the Sixties and the Saturday Night Fever disco-lifestyle of the Seventies. 

I enjoyed working at GAO doing investigations of federal programs for Congress, and even got to see my evil twin brother Bob when he was detailed to DC from his “Big-8” private accounting firm to serve on President Reagan’s “Grace Commission.”  I provided legal assistance to the GAO evaluators when they reviewed the operation of federal agencies, including the IRS (auditing the auditors!), and pursued an additional law degree (“LLM”) in the evenings at Georgetown Law School near Capitol Hill, with the fancy title of “Master of the Laws of Taxation,” which is the nerd-equivalent of a Jedi-Knight.

While at GAO, I enjoyed playing softball and running on the National Mall (imagine running up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at sunset), and I even finished the Marine Corps Marathon in a respectable time (for a former sprinter).  I was a frequent guest at the Georgetown home of Paul Josephson and his lovely wife Cathy.  I also met my wife-to-be at GAO and eloped with her in 1985 after a brief civil ceremony witnessed only by my buddy Eric Schuette.  Eric had followed me from the ‘burgh to the DC area where he still lives in nearby Virginia.

Big changes in my life came in 1986 when I accepted a job at a private law firm in Bethesda, Maryland, where I still work today after 26 years!  I also became the father of the world’s greatest daughter that year, Kimberly Anne Ruprecht, only to be blessed the following year with another world’s greatest daughter, Catherine Marie Ruprecht.  And in 1990, the world got to meet Richard (Ricky) James Ruprecht, the greatest son ever.  These three wonderful kids allowed me to assume the world's greatest job, that of being their Dad.

Meanwhile, back at the office, I became a principal at the law firm, handling all sorts of tax-planning, estate planning and probate matters (“The only things certain in life are death and taxes.”)  I enjoyed teaching a course called “Tax Aspects of Real Estate” at a local community college for about ten years.

 I have participated in various community service organizations, in which I remain active today.  One of the ones I am proudest of is called “the Miracle League.” A group of us worked to finance and arrange for the construction of a rubber-surfaced athletic field on which children with special needs can play baseball.  We opened for play in August 2011, and it is the only one of its kind in Maryland. We have significant financial support from the owners of the Washington Nationals. Visit our website to see where I can be found most Saturday mornings: http://www.miracleleaguemontcomd.com

Although my marriage ended in divorce after thirteen years, I remain on good terms with my “ex”, always mindful of two things important things: (1) I picked her; and (2) she gave me three great children.  I have not gotten remarried, and to the best of my knowledge, have not sired any more off-spring.

My dear Mom passed on in 2011, but I still enjoy driving up to the Burgh to visit my older brother Art and his family and go sailing with him.

I extend an open invitation to any and all of my Lebo high school classmates to look me up if you are in the DC area so we can reconnect and talk about the “Glory Days” (apologies to The Boss), and discuss and debate whether we are better off than we were 40 years ago!