APPENDIX XVI - A Biography of Jack Ruby

In this appendix the Commission presents a biography of Jack Ruby. Although criminal proceedings involving its subject are pending in the State of Texas, the Commission has decided to include this rather detailed account of Ruby's life and activities for several reasons. Most importantly, the Commission believes it will permit a better evaluation of the evidence on the question whether Ruby was involved in any conspiracy. Furthermore, the Commission believes that in view of the many rumors concerning Ruby the public interest will be served by an account, which attempts to give sufficient material to provide an impression of his character and background. The Commission's desire not to interfere in the pending proceedings involving Ruby necessarily limits the scope of this appendix, which does not purport to discuss the legal issues raised during Ruby's trial or his possible motive for shooting Oswald.

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Jack Ruby, born Jacob Rubenstein, was the fifth of his parents' eight living children. There is much confusion about his exact birth date. School records report it as June 23, April 25,1 March 13, and, possibly, March 3, 1911.2 Other early official records list his date of birth as April 21 and April 26, 1911.3 During his adult life the date Ruby used most frequently was March 25, 1911.4 His driver's license, seized following his arrest, and his statements to the FBI on November 24, 1963, listed this date.5 However, the police arrest report for November 24 gave his birth date as March 19, 1911.6 Since the recording of births was not required in Chicago prior to 1915, Ruby's birth may never have been officially recorded.7 No substantial conflict exists, however, about whether Jack Ruby was born in 1911.8

Ruby has one older brother and three older sisters. The oldest children, Hyman and Ann, were born shortly after the turn of the century,9 before their parents arrived in the United States.10 The other children were born in Chicago. Ruby's sister Marion was born in June 1906 11 and his sister Eva in March 1909.12 Ruby also has two younger brothers and a younger sister. Sam was born in December 1912,13 Earl in April 1915.14 The youngest child, Eileen, was born in July 1917.15 At least one and possibly two other children died during infancy.16

Jack Ruby's father, Joseph Rubenstein, was born in 1871 in Sokolov, a small town near Warsaw, Poland, then under the rule of Czarist Russia.17 He entered the Russian artillery in 1893.18 There he learned