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Disclaimer:This is not the journal of a real person. This has nothing to do with Mandy Patinkin, MGM or anyone else that has any involvement in the Dead Like Me series. No profit is made from this. This journal features adult content. Deal with it or get out.

Note: Rube makes many mentions of reaping, and other grim reaper related stuff in his journal. It is his journal, after all. Feel free to comment, but there is a good chance, that, unless he tells you so in actually commenting conversation, he won’t acknowledge questions about reaping. But who knows. Oh, and, yes, that doesn’t apply to other Dead Like Me muses, of course.


Dictionary.com defines Rube thus:
Rube: (n.) Slang
An unsophisticated country person.

From Urban Dictionary:
Rube: (n) An unsophisticated hick or bumpkin.
What sort of country-fried rube writes this slop?


Full Name: Rube John Sofer

Position: Head Reaper

What’s on the post-it note? Name, Address, ETD

Me? I lived, I died, I go to work. What more do you want?

Comforting Words: “To be honest, Peanut... I really don’t give a fuck one way or the other.”

Born: ~ 1876

Died: ~ 1926

Hates: Bite sized waffles.

Likes: Muffins.


Rube John Sofer is a fictional character played by Mandy Patinkin in the American comedy-drama television series Dead Like Me, which premiered in 2003 on the Showtime cable network. B. ~1876 d. ~1926. Manner of death is yet unknown. The date of his death is surmised by the fact that he was present in 1926 for the death of Betty Rhomer, however in the second season episode, “Always”, a character guesses that he died in 1927, which would contradict the earlier information.

In the episode “Always”, George asserts that Rube died in 1927, though this appears to be a guess, as it does not fit with him being available to collect Betty on her death in 1926. If he did die in the mid-1920s, his presence at Betty’s death implies that he had been placed in charge of his division very soon after he died. A lonely figure, evidently haunted by his past, his loneliness is brought into sharp focus on the death of his daughter, Rosie, during season 2.

Rube is the “foreman” of the group of grim reapers at the centre of the series. He gets the list of who is to die, when and where, from an unnamed shadowy individual and then transfers the first initial and last name of the person, where they are to die, and their estimated time of death (ETD) to a Post-it note and assigns them to the reapers. He enjoys eating and cooking. He has been a reaper since before 1926, is originally from New York, and is of Jewish heritage. He refuses to reap children. Although he comes off as gruff and aloof, he actually cares for his team like a father, and is particularly fond of George Lass, the newest “recruit” to his small team of reapers. He calls her “Peanut”, and in the episode “Always”, it was revealed that that was the nickname he had for his daughter, Rosie. He claims to have reaped Amelia Earhart. Gets irritated at fellow reaper Mason’s antics and frequently calls him a “fuck-up.” However, he suspects that Mason is smarter than he seems.

One of the more mysterious and secretive of the reapers featured on Dead Like Me, his full name wasn’t revealed until midway through the second season. His date of death was never made explicit, but implied to be the earliest of the known reapers. Mason says in “Rites of Passage”, “Rube’s so old he probably reaped Jesus.” In “Ghost Story” George thinks Rube probably reaped Houdini.

The disappearance of Betty Rhomer, a reaper with whom he worked since her own death in 1926, disturbed him greatly. He hates computers and avoids using them whenever possible. In a major character arc during the second season, he was greatly upset when he discovered that a package of money that he had sent after his death to his daughter and wife in 1927 was never delivered, and embarked upon a quest to find out why. While he searched public record archives, during which he found the death certificate for his wife, he discovered a wanted poster that indicated he was apparently wanted for a bank robbery. He is afraid of heights.

His daughter Rosie lived at a nursing home until her death. Fellow Reaper Penny (who died on the Titanic) led Rube to Rosie, so Rube could be with her when she died, when Rube sat with her in the garden of the nursing home, Rosie recognized Rube as her father.


Source: Wikipedia: Rube John Sofer


* Rube’s full name is revealed to be “Rube John Sofer”.
* He was 49 in 1925, lived in Englewood, New Jersey, and was wanted for Bank Robbery. His address at that time was listed at 243 Georgian Lane.
* His wife was named Lucy Sonia Debrouski, was 24 in 1925, and came from Czechoslovakia.
* They had a daughter born on March 18th 1925, named Rose Anne Sofer. Nickname Rosie.
* Lucy is confirmed as being dead.
* The song Rube sings to his daughter is “(I’ll Be Loving You) Always,” written by Irving Berlin in 1925. Josephine Baker recorded it in 1926, which is probably how Rube learned the song.
* Rube is most likely Jewish. His last name is Sofer, which means “Writer” or “Counting” in Hebrew.

Source: TV.com: Dead Like Me Episode Guide

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