Obituary of Jerry Rude
It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Jerry Rude, a long-time resident of Dawson Creek, British Columbia, on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at the age of 73 years.
A Memorial Service for Jerry will be held at Co-op Mercer Hall in the Ovintiv Centre Dawson Creek, British Columbia, (Please enter by way of the door beside the swimming pool entrance) on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, at 1:00pm. Pauline Haycock will officiate. For those who are unable to join us in person, a live streaming of the event will be available. on our website at reynars.com.
We are gathered here today to honour, celebrate, and remember the life of Jerry Rude.
Jerry passed away suddenly, Nov.9, on route to his favorite winter home, in Yuma.
I have the privilege to be Jerry's brother-in-law. When I think of Jerry, the words family, kindness, honesty, respectful, patient and humorous come to mind. Some may even say he was as long winded....as I am.
Jerry was born in 1949, the eldest child of Myron and Doris Rude. Siblings Lanny, Wade, Janice, Valerie and Blaine followed. The family moved to Forth Creek in 1958. Jerry had skipped a few grades and in 1963 Jerry stayed with his aunts and uncles while attending Grade 10 in La Glace. The rest of the family moved back in 1964. Jerry, after completing Grade 11 & 12 in Sexsmith, attended the Vocational School for parts tech in Grande Prairie and started working for R ANGUS in 1967.
I met Jerry when he started dating my sister Carol. Our mother Olivia was in Edmonton for an operation. Jerry with his Parisienne convertible, took Carol and me out to Edmonton to see Mom. It was on this trip I quickly realized his love for cars.
Carol being the only girl, the Patterson boys often reminded Jerry that he was marrying a rare gem. He would smile, wink and cautiously replied "even the rarest gem has rough edges and needs to be polished".
In 1970 Jerry married his sweetheart, Carol in Hythe, Alberta with reception & dance at the Park Hotel in Grande Prairie. They had an apartment for a short time in Grande Prairie, finding a house to rent later. Jerry continued working at R ANGUS with Carol working for Northwestern Utilities. Around this time Jerry purchased a new car, a 2802 Datsun. As Jerry had a bit of a heavy foot, the 2802 was replaced with a Datsun Station Wagon.
Jerry & Carol's spare time was spent with family & friends. There were many trips to One Island Lake, special memories of were made with time shared with Jim & Agnes, family and friends, as the cabin started to take shape. Jerry had a Datsun pickup with camper, he & Carol put on many miles, camping and travelling with friends & family.
In May 1975, they moved to Edmonton, Jerry worked the summer for R ANGUS and Carol transferred to Northwestern Utilities. The same year Jerry went back to school enrolling in Civic Engineering. They lived in an apartment building in the city and to reduce rent they cleaned offices on two floors. If you were lucky enough, you may have been one of the many family & friends that lived or camped out with them the occasional weekend during their time in Edmonton. Card games were a must and a big part of the entertainment.
After 2 years in school, Jerry thought that engineering may not be for him. He went back to R ANGUS and started his sales career selling forklifts.
In 1979, they introduced us to their firstborn, Ashley. In 1980 Jerry was transferred to R ANGUS in Peace River which brought an opportunity to sell the bigger equipment.
In 1981, Jerry & Carol's 2nd son, Aaron arrived.
The next year, in 1982, they returned to La Glace. Jerry started working for MACK Trucks in Grande Prairie. Shortly after starting there, MACK had a customer appreciation day. The owners were there and many of the people attending, Jerry knew. One of the owners was from Edmonton. He had been watching, observing Jerry visiting with several of the customers. He approached Carol and said, "that husband of yours, if he develops the same compassion for MACK Trucks as he has for Caterpillar equipment, he is going to make me a lot of money". A few months before this, Jerry & Carol had been inquiring about the possibility of an Essa Agency. As he was settling in with Mack the opportunity arose for them to purchase an Essa Agency. In 1983 they made the leap and acquired the Essa Agency in Eaglesham. As husband and wife, they worked together in the business, knowing the role they played in the farming industry and the importance of the products they sold.
Service was a goal they wished to provide, they treated their customers fairly and with respect.
The family enjoyed their many years in Eaglesham. The boys spent many years enjoying sports, most notably hockey, and of course being around the agency and the big trucks. Their business grew, operating Spirit River and overseeing Fairview agencies. Jerry also had a trucking service with his dad for a number of years.
Christmas: I don't know how Jerry and Carol managed to do it but it was celebration at grannies on the 24th, Load up everything, including 2 rambunctious boys and be at gramma Ps to celebrate Christmas morning.
One year Jerry and Carol arrived in La glace on the 23rd• Early morning on the 24th, Uncle Jerry got a call. It was from Shaun and Darrin. They had made it back from NAIT and enjoyed a party in Grande Prairie. Could he come and get them and help find their vehicle because they couldn't be late to Grannies and Shaun still had to finish shopping.
In 1993 they sold Eaglesham and purchased the Essa Agencies in Dawson Creek and Ft. St. John. They both said it was one of the hardest decisions they had to make leaving the community of friends in Eaglesham. Jerry and Carol move to Dawson allowed them the opportunity to share more time with Art Remona and family as well as Leonard Connie and family. They continued with the Essa Agency until 2006 when they retired.
Jerry continued to help with anhydrous application each spring and fall. This year he was asked to take on the job of dispatcher and really enjoyed it. Many compliments were paid to Jerry on a job well done. He was hoping they would consider him for the same position next year.
The boys both graduated high school in Dawson, Ashley and Aaron both worked for Jerry & Carol and of course both boys learned to master the big trucks. The years in Dawson saw both Ashley & Aaron continuing to play hockey. Ashley played Junior Bin Revelstoke, FSJ and Beaverlodge and Aaron for the
D.C Jr Canucks and Beaverlodge Blades as well.
Ashley remembers one summer he attended conditioning and tryouts camps both in BC and Alberta, with his dad always being there, encouraging and supporting him. One trip Jerry especially enjoyed, along with Aaron & extended family, was their trip to the Memorial Cup hosted in Regina.
Ashley & Aaron both recall Jerry's just "A Ten-Minute Job". These were often 1-to-3-hour jobs as many other little jobs always seemed to pop up, it was never a 10 minute job!
I was in Edmonton one time when Jerry and Carol were visiting Ashley, who was out there in school. I was invited to join them for lunch. We got seated at the table, received our drinks and then the menus came. There were 3 menus the same color and 1 different, as the waitress set them in front of each one of us. I was the only one given a senior’s menu. So much for me teasing Jerry his beautiful blonde has was going grey.
The family grew with the arrival of their first grandchild Kimberly in 2002. Jessie followed in 2004, Quin in 2006 and Connor in 2008. Jerry had a special relationship with each of his grandchildren, these four meant the world to him!
He would often comment how Kim was interested in the cars and helped him with changing a muffler. He would always find something to tease Jesse about, but she would always give it back. The girls had their special pink peppermints, they had a rating that the white ones were stale, the green weren't ready yet, but the pink ones were just right. As we reminisced with the girls, the memories brought tears but then laughter as they shared pink peppermints from Grandpa's stash. Quin remembered how he & his grandpa watched Ford vs. Ferrari.
He appreciated how Grandpa paused the show and explained the history. He was very impressed that his grandpa had met Carroll Shelby. Grandpa would tease Connor but also bragged about Connor driving the quad, with trailer hitched on, making many trips this past summer hauling wood during the big cleanup out at One Island. Connor told me he called Grandpa a "OLD MAN". At the time, they were on the dock at One Island, so Jerry, along with Aaron pushed Connor into the lake. Jerry was laughing and teasing Connor, then Aaron pushed Jerry into the lake, Connor had the last laugh.
In 2009 they spent their first winter in Yuma and have gone most years since. In 1016 Jerry had a bad accident at the lake. Jerry and Carol were so thankful and blessed that Darin Rude was there. Jerry and Carol spent most of that winter in Vancouver.
Jerry recovered and the first thing he did was to change the Quad throttle to the other side so he wouldn't miss Tuesdays with the dune busters.
Over the years, many summers have been spent at One Island water skiing, quad trips and evening games in the cabin. These times, spent with family & friends, be it in the winter or summer months meant everything to Jerry & Carol.
Jerry always believed in community. He supported and was involved in many branches of community service. He was a town councilor in Eaglesham and board member of the Peace River Planning Commission. In Dawson he was the Commissioner of the Dawson Creek Minor Hockey, President of the Junior Canucks, Midget Team Manager and President of the Northwest Junior Hockey League. Through their business with Essa, they received many Recognition Awards and were presented with the Award of Excellence.
Jerry also had the opportunity to meet a few celebrities. At an Essa Convention, Wayne Gretzky was the surprise guest. Both Jerry and Carol met and had their picture taken with Wayne.
With good friend Jim Inkster, Jerry and Jim attended and met Carroll Shelby at his 80th birthday hosted at a Barrett Jackson Auction.
Jerry loved his cars. Being a part of the Mile Zero Car Club was a favorite pastime. He enjoyed the Thursday night cruises and travelling to different car shows with friends. He looked forward to his time in Yuma and his Tuesday trips with the Dune Busters.
Throughout the years Jerry & Carol made many lifelong friends. They did have an opportunity to see some of those friends and family before and on the way to Yuma.
I would now like to share some special memories from Jerry's siblings: but first a special memory
January 1st of 1997, Jerry's parents, Myron & Doris celebrated their 50 Wedding Anniversary. Jerry had hauled his Red Coupe down to La Glace. He picked them up at the house and drove them over to the Hall. Myron & Doris had big smiles on their faces as they arrived.
For friends so wishing, donations may be made in memory of Jerry to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Suite #200-885 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver BC, V6C 1N5
Very Respectfully, Reynars Funeral Home & Crematorium
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