Richard Ray Rudd, 78, of Marion, KY, passed away on Monday, July 17, 2023, at Crittenden Community Hospital in the presence of his daughters.
Born October 6, 1944, in Paducah, Kentucky, Richard was the youngest child of Ray and Imogene Rudd. He grew up on the family farm in the Kaler community and was a 1963 graduate of Symsonia High School. He joined the Clarks River Baptist Church upon his baptism as a young boy. Throughout his life, Richard served the church as deacon, Sunday School teacher, song leader, trustee, and custodian. He had been a member of the Marion Baptist Church for 29 years upon his death.
As a young man, Richard worked in utility construction for Kelly and Wilmore Company. Upon completing his course at Paducah Area Vocational School, he obtained a certificate in civil engineering which led to jobs in the mining and oil industries in Kentucky and Wyoming. He also worked for the Kentucky State Highway Department, Franklin Brick Company, and co-owned the Rudd Honey Company with his wife.
Richard married his high school sweetheart Wanda Browning in 1963, raising their two daughters in the Symsonia community. Richard and Wanda answered the call to volunteer missions for four years in the 1980s, first at Highland Lakes Baptist Center in Martinsville, IN, where he did construction and maintenance and worked as a cook alongside his family for weekend and week-long camps and retreats. Next, they served one year at Newcastle Baptist Church in Wyoming where he served the church in many capacities, including music director.
Coming from a musical family, Richard learned to play the banjo. He sang in church with his brother and sister, accompanied by their mother, as well as on a weekly Sunday morning Gospel music program on WCBL. He led congregational singing, sang solos, and sang bass with the Clarks River Quartet and the Neighbors Quartet.
A loving and committed husband, father, and grandfather, he demonstrated his love of family and home with many improvement projects that included gardening and homesteading, landscaping, and home renovation. He loved animals, especially his border collies. His hobbies included woodworking and vintage audio equipment.
Expressions of sympathy can be made in the form of donation to Gideon's Bibles, P.O. Box 140800, Nashville, Tennessee 37214.
Richard is survived by his daughters Regina Merrick (Todd) of Marion and Andrea Peak (Ted) of Charlestown, IN; grandchildren Emily Merrick (Ben Jay) of Brooklyn, NY, Ellen Merrick of Evansville, IN, and Adam Peak and Susanna Peak of Charlestown, IN; sister Jill Bugg of Symsonia; sister-in-law Deanna Rudd of Baxley, GA; brother-in-law Wayne Browning (Rosemary) of Symsonia; and beloved cousins, nieces, and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 59 years, Wanda Priscilla Browning Rudd; his parents, Ray and Imogene Rudd; one brother, John David Rudd and brother-in-law, Kenneth Bugg.
