Ruurd Faber was a Dutch politician for the ARP. He was born to Anne Faber (1875–1948; from 1932 director of the first institution of the Rijkswerkinrichtingen at Veenhuizen) and Hermina Klein (1879–1973). On 15 May 1941, he married Aukje Fokje Wijngaard (born in The Hague on 27 May 1918) in Assen. Faber served as mayor of the municipality of Aalten from 1971 to 1975.
At the beginning of his career, Faber worked as an inspector for a life insurance company. During the Second World War, he was involved in the resistance, for which he was arrested and imprisoned in the detention centre in Assen. Following the liberation, he was released and subsequently became head of the Politieke Opsporingsdienst (POD – Political Investigation Service) in Assen. After some time, Faber became a prosecuting officer (Officier-fiscaal) at the Assen Chamber of the Bijzonder Gerechtshof (Special Court of Justice) in Leeuwarden. Later, he also held other positions at the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Social Work.
In 1960, he became Mayor of Ulrum, and from 1962 to 1963 he additionally served as acting Mayor of Leens. In 1965, Faber was appointed Mayor of Dantumadeel. There, he gained a reputation as a “large-calibre social worker”.
In 1971, he succeeded Hendrik Haverkamp as Mayor of Aalten, a post he held until 1975.
Ruurd Faber passed away in 1992 at the age of 79.
Faber was succeeded as Mayor of Aalten by Doeke Bekius.
