Royce A Rude 1923 - 2003

RUDE SPAULDING MEIER

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/11/2010 at 21:43:35

Sioux City Journal
29 January 2003

SMITHLAND, Iowa -- Royce A. Rude, 79, of Smithland died Monday, Jan. 27, 2003, at a Sioux City hospital.

Services will be 2 p.m. Thursday at United Methodist Church in Smithland, with the Rev. Karen Handke officiating. Burial will be in Oto Township Cemetery, Oto, Iowa. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. today, with a prayer service at 7 p.m., at Willman Funeral Chapel in Rodney, Iowa.

Mr. Rude was born in Soldier, Iowa, the son of Andrew K. and Zada (Spaulding) Rude, on Feb. 22, 1923. He grew up in the Smithland area and attended and graduated from Mapleton (Iowa) High School. He was a veteran of World War II, serving with the U.S. Navy SeaBees in the Philippine Islands and on the island of Guam.

He was united in marriage to Mary Jane Meier on March 28, 1948, in Climbing Hill, Iowa. They farmed in the area until 1961. He worked as a carpenter for two years and then was employed as a heavy equipment operator for several area contractors, Roy Johnson, Olson and Wood, Olson, Anderson. He worked on the Garretson Drainage Ditch Project in Woodbury County. He retired in 1988.

He had a love for horses, having always had horses since he was a young boy. He participated in various parades and centennial celebrations throughout the area with his draft horse hitches and team and buggy. He was a member of the Northwest Iowa Chuckwagon Association for many years. He also was a member of American Legion Post 0666 of Smithland.

He is survived by his children, Jim and his special friend, Janet Wagoner of Hinton, Iowa, Dan of Sioux City, and Nancy Jane Rude of Kansas City, Mo.; a grandson, Jacob; two sisters, Margaret Gerdeman of Milford, Iowa, and Mary Jane Bromander of Sloan, Iowa; several nieces and nephews; his in-laws, Genevieve Knight of Transfer, Pa., Robert and Dorothy Meier of South Sioux City, Alvin and Mary Frances Meier of Burlingame, Calif., Marvin and Frances Meier of Alamo, Calif., Everett Meier of Sergeant Bluff, Lois Knoll of Omaha, Shirley and Charles Persinger of Sioux City, and Marleen Thomasson of Sioux City.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Mary Jane in 1994; a son, Kevin in 2001; a brother, James; and a sister, Katherine.