OT Rudd Obituary (1929 - 2020)

Please join us for a Celebration of Life service for Owen Thomas Rudd .O.T.'s family would like to invite extended family, friends and community to join them for visitation Friday, July 9, 2021 from 4:00-7:00 pm. at Barnett Strother Funeral Home as well as a graveside service Saturday, July 10,2021 at 10:30,West Lawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations are welcome to the Salvation Army of Madisonville, KY and West Lawn Cemetery, of Hanson, KY With saddened hearts, our father, and one of our community legends, Owen Thomas (O.T.) Rudd, 91, passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 11, 2020 at Ridgewood Terrace in Madisonville, Kentucky. O.T. was born in Madisonville, Kentucky on March 11, 1929. He is preceded in death by his parents Helen G. Rudd, John H. Rudd; his brother William E. Rudd, and his sister-in-law Dimple Kitchens Rudd, and his deceased wife Aldis Ruby Rudd. O.T. was a graduate of Madisonville High School in 1947. He then went on to attend the University of Kentucky. O.T. played football under Coach Bear Bryant and proceeded to win the Cottonbowl Championship in 1951, earning a Varsity Letter. He was a longtime U.K. fellow as well as a lifetime member of the U.K. Wildcat Association. Additionally, O. T. was a member of Paul (Bear) Bryant Group and a member of the Blue -White Fund. He served 3 years in the Marine Corps as a Sergeant. He served 2 years in the U. S. Army Paratroopers as a Second Lieutenant, followed by serving 9 years in the U. S. Army Reserve as a Captain. As well as playing football at U.K., O. T. played football 3 years for the Marine Corps and 2 years for the U. S. Army Paratroopers. O.T. purchased Ruby Lumber Company from John Edwin Ruby. Then he formed Madisonville Contractors which he successfully operated for 35 years. O. T. had many business endeavors throughout his lifetime. He was co-owner and President of Rudd Lumber Company, co-owner of Tri-Mer Construction Company, builder and co-owner of Edwards IGA Store, Watkins Rest Home, Senior Citizens Nursing Home, Barnett-Strother Funeral Home, Ramada Inn, North City Ford, and Sparks Rest Home of Central City, Kentucky. He was the builder of the Salvation Army in Madisonville. He built and co-owned the first American condos in the Bahamas. O. T. served 2 years as the Hopkins County Magistrate and served as an interim Hopkins County Judge Executive in 1990. Some of the many commendations O. T. received were the Lions Club Man of the Year in 1971, Boss of the Year for Hopkins County in 1974, and Kentucky Colonel Certificate awarded in 1989. O. T. believed and practiced the importance of selfless acts that put the welfare of others before his own. He exemplified this throughout his life which he clearly showed through his volunteerism and his compassion for the well-being of others. O. T.'s community service included two time President of the Audubon Boy Scout Council, past member of the National Boy Scout Finance Committee where he was the recipient of the Silver Beaver Award in 1973, elected Man of the Year in 1973 by the Chamber of Commerce, President of the Kentuckiana Girl Scout Council in 1987, past President of the United Way Foundation, past board member of the Hopkins County Library, member of the Hopkins County YMCA Capital Expansion in 1984, past President of the Chamber of Commerce in Madisonville, charter member and past President of the Hopkins County Community Foundation, past Finance Chairman of the Christian Church Building fund, past Chairman of the Salvation Army in Madisonville for 17 years and on their advisory board as well as being a lifetime member. O. T. valued his time here in Madisonville, with many great friends, treating them as if they were his own family. O. T.'s family would like to express their immense gratitude for the support his friends and neighbors have given him over the years. O. T. leaves behind his dear children Mary Comer Rudd-Gates (Jeff) of Connecticut, Allyn Hendrikson (Henry) of Minnesota, Melissa Lombardi of Georgia, Laurel Cahill (Greg) of Connecticut, and Edwin Rudd (Sharlene) of Massachusetts, and Wiley Hope (Michael) of Texas. He also leaves behind seven grandchildren, Owen and Patrick Curtis, Aldis and Julia Berezowskyj, Claudia Allyn Gates, Anna Neese, and Ben Rudd; and five great grandchildren. Lastly and importantly, he leaves behind his nephew Bill Rudd of Madisonville, Cheryl Phillips of Georgia, and Barrett Woo of Texas. Visitation and memorial services will be held at Barnett-Strother Funeral Home and announced at a later date.