Gary Wendall Rud, age 64, of Byron, MN, passed away unexpectedly on January 3, 2024. Gary was a loving, strong, generous, hardworking, grounded, quick witted, good humored man. He was a brilliant and understated teacher. He brought happiness to many. He was dedicated to the love of his life, Sally, his four children, his five grandchildren, and his large group of family and friends.
Gary was born on January 17, 1959, in Rochester, MN, to Aden and Leola Rud. He grew up in Byron, MN, where he enjoyed farming, fishing, and wrestling. He met his wife Sally in the 8 th grade, and he finally convinced her to date him during their junior year of high school. Together Gary and Sally graduated from Byron High School in 1977. They married on June 16, 1979, and soon after they moved to Oklahoma City, OK, where Gary worked on the oil rigs for Nicor Drilling and Sally trained and showed quarter horses. Shortly after having their first daughter, they moved back to Byron to be close to family. They had four beautiful children ( The Children of the Corn ) and raised them on their peaceful (and busy) hobby farm.
Gary valued hard work. He worked at Quarve Construction, later Rochester Sand and Gravel, then for the City of Rochester on the sewer crew followed by the street maintenance crew. He spent many hours making the streets safe on blustery winter nights. He loved pulling the Rochester City Mayor around town at Christmas time and scoping out of the best holiday light displays. He was an active member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49. He received his 35-year pin.
Gary adored his children, teaching his sons to wrestle from the young age of 3 years. Family vacations fishing in Hackensack at Pleasant Lake were cherished times. We can all see dad driving the boat, complaining of being bitten off, and yelling at the kids for getting tangled in the lily pads. Gary was forever searching for his 32-inch walleye. He had just begun to teach his grandchildren to fish.
Gary could fix anything. He was forever tinkering with something. If you wanted help with something, you could always call Gary, but you didn’t want to call him if you didn’t want it done immediately… Gary would take care of the problem before you got another chance to think about it.
Later, Gary had many hobbies in addition to family, fishing, and fixing things. He enjoyed reruns of Leave It To Beaver and was thrilled by ‘classic’ horror movies (like Darkness Falls). He would watch the MMA fights with the boys on the weekends. He liked going for long walks with Sally, getting the family together for fish fries, spending time at Lake Gary, and mowing the lawn (or sometimes just the leaves). Gary and Sally loved road trips, traveling to Arizona to visit their daughter and grandchildren. He was a big kid and played tricks on the grandchildren. He could never sit still, which is a common trait in the Ruds. He always had to hit the road early. If you slept past 6AM, the day was half over.
Gary is loved by many.
Gary is survived by his wife Sally; 4 children – Heather (Paul) Baxter, Holly (Mitch) Bellrichard, Heath (Savannah) Rud, Hunter (Rachel) Rud; 6 siblings – Donald (Lin) Rud, Sue Jarhaus, Tom (Vicki) Rud, Charlie (Sue) Rud, David (Lynn) Rud, Diane Rud, Greg (Martha) Rud; 5 grandchildren – Leo, Harper, Oona, Finley, and Ripley and nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his loving parents – Aden and Leola Rud; brother Dale; brother-in-law Bill; and sister-in-law Paula.
A memorial service for Gary will be held on Saturday, January 6 th , at 3PM at East Saint Olaf Church in Rock Dell, MN. Visitation will be from 1-3PM immediately prior to the service.
