Ms. Dorothy Jean “Pat” Rudd, a St. Cloud resident since 2013, celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday among 35 family and friends at the St. Cloud Community Center.
Mayor Nathan Blackwell kicked off the festivities by presenting Ms. Rudd with a proclamation from the St. Cloud City Council.
Born in Danville, Ill., Rudd has packed much life into her first 100 years. While working as an instructor at a factory associated with the Marshall Field’s Company during the early days of World War II, she was recruited to join the Navy through the new Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) program. She was in one of the first groups of WAVES to deploy to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1944, which was considered, an overseas war zone at that time.
Her duties included running the base’s Education Office, and teaching literacy courses to sailors. She also volunteered at the base hospital. During that time, she met her future husband, Gerald, who was also in the Navy and was originally from Kissimmee. They had been married for 75 years when he passed away in 2017. Her brother also served in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II.
While discussing her wartime experiences, Rudd said “I sure don’t feel like I am a hundred years old!”
A few years ago, the Quilt of Valor Foundation honored her with a handmade quilt for her WW II service. After the war, along with raising her family, she worked in numerous positions, including with Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin), and retired from SunTrust Bank. When Pat and Gerald got into their 70s, they decided to “retire” by building, literally from the ground up, and running a hunting camp in Georgia.
Sunday’s celebration included a “Roaring 20s” tribute from the Osceola Community Orchestra and performances by the various music and dance groups of the Saint Cloud Senior Citizen Center.
“Pat has always been a force in the community, always attending events,” Pat’s friend Lorraine Patusky said. “She lives in a way that makes us all feel better about ourselves.”
Pat was named Queen of the St. Cloud Senior Citizen Center in 2017.
She has a grandson, Gary Root of St. Cloud, granddaughter Jinnifer Cushman, who traveled to St. Cloud from Michigan for the event, 12 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren. Cushman said her grandmother “has always been a pillar of our family, and an example of hard work, sacrifice, faith, and tenacity.”
Jinnifer and her family thanked all of the people in the Saint Cloud community who have been a part of Pat’s life; including the Saint Cloud Police who regularly check in on her. Several police officers were able to stop by the event.
