RIO GRANDE – Gary Rudy. Say his name; seemingly everybody knows him in Cape May County and many worldwide.
The man, born in Verona, Pennsylvania, on March 27, 1939, made his mark in the weekly newspaper business and in retail sales.
He is the personification of the Herald newspaper: An affable chap wearing a trademark Western hat and an impish smile. He loves nature and surrounds himself with like-minded folks.
His residence, a log cabin in the Shannon Oaks neighborhood in Rio Grande, exemplifies his love of the outdoors. He has hunted bears, deer, and other furry creatures and fished in New Jersey, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, off Cuba, Canada’s Yukon, and many secret places.
On one of the cabin’s walls, across from a huge fireplace, hangs a cherished International Game Fish Association plaque.
Under a replica of the fish, that document attests to Rudy’s world-record catch of a 10-pound, 4-ounce weakfish on a 4-pound test line, 5 miles off the coast of Cape May on July 6, 1980. The record remains to the present. He cherishes that catch above all others.
Not Enough Hours
Rudy told this reporter that his late wife, Bea, once told him, “You’ve been gone eight nights out of the past week.” Her comment underscores the active life he pursued outside the office: “I held every office in the Rio Grande Fire Company except the president of the Ladies Auxiliary,” he joked in a Jan. 7 interview.
Firefighter, Commissioner, Planning Board Member
Those 54 years of fire service included volunteering as a firefighter, lieutenant, captain, assistant chief, chief, and fire district commissioner.
In the latter office, he held posts of secretary and treasurer and served 32 years on the commission.
The Herald Fire
As captain, Rudy recalled the summer night in 1988 when his in-laws were visiting. He had switched off the device that notified volunteers of calls. However, when he heard the siren, he raced to the firehouse, got on his gear, and jumped into the cab.
He only learned from the driver that his beloved workplace, the Herald, was ablaze. As one of his proudest achievements, Rudy recalled that the next edition of the Herald, compiled from his garage and car, was 100 pages.
Trees Spared, Signs Limited
Rudy also served for 30 years on the Middle Township Planning Board. During his tenure, he noted the passage of ordinances meant to save specimen trees and prevent the municipality from “looking like Tilton Road” with too many signs.
Observing the present direction of the township in those areas, Rudy wondered if those ordinances were still being enforced due to the flagrant violations he’d witnessed.
What Was Most Important?
Without hesitation, Rudy answered what was most important in his life: “I’ve met two presidents and been involved with a lot of big politicians,” he said.
He was on the stage when President John F. Kennedy spoke words of inspiration in their native tongue to the people of Berlin, Germany: “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.'”
He also met President Bill Clinton.
“They were exciting things,” he said with a smile.
Successful Careers
“I have had three unbelievable, successful careers,” said Rudy. “Money doesn’t mean everything, but the money was good along with it. Regardless of where I was, I always had the uncanny ability to surround myself with good people,” he continued.
Those three careers were:
G.C. Murphy and Co., where he began about 1960 “dressing windows” in stores in western Pennsylvania.
Later, he managed stores in Cape May County, including G.C. Murphy Company in Wildwood and Murphy-Mart in Court House.
It was there that Rudy met Art Hall, publisher of the Herald. Murphy-Mart was one of the largest advertisers in the newspaper then, and Hall would meet Rudy weekly to pick up the following week’s advertisement.
Rudy was beginning to weary of the merchandising hassles with the chain.
The Herald: He voiced his sentiment to Hall, who offered him a job selling advertising for the Herald.
That was about 1985, he recalled, and he was on the escalator to more significant titles at the newspaper.
He went from sales to advertising director, to general manager, then vice president.
Rudy and the Herald’s late editor, Joe Zelnik, hatched the idea of Spout Off. That feature permits readers to write complaints, praises, and everything in between anonymously.
At the outset, it was feared the feature would end letters to the editor, but that fear proved unfounded.
“Sometimes, I regretted it, but our publisher and his wife don’t, ” Rudy said. Many readers flip to Spout Off before reading the rest of the publication.
He offered one idea for Spout Off: Put all political comments in one section.
“Take them out of the regular Spout Off. It’s overloaded with ‘I hate Trump’ and ‘I hate Biden.’ I don’t want to waste my time reading that,” he said.
IFPA Exec: Having made the Herald a landmark free publication in South Jersey, Rudy became active in the Independent Free Papers of America (IFPA).
After his employment ended with the Herald, Rudy was hired as executive director of IFPA at a meeting in St. Louis, Missouri.
At the time, the organization, which includes free newspapers in the USA and Canada, had about 40 member newspapers back then. Its number grew to over 300, under his tenure, he said.
“I was all over the country with IFPA,” said Rudy. “They asked me, ‘Could you write in a nutshell the job description for the executive director?'” he recalled.
“I wrote the job description. They said, ‘How much is that going to cost us?’ So, I wrote it down and slid it across the table, and they hired me.”
Success and Hotel Living
For 22 years, Rudy shuttled across North America. He arranged conventions and seminars and grew accustomed to living out of a suitcase.
Rudy admits that while he enjoyed traveling, particularly in airports and on airplanes, for a while, the transient life eventually “got old.”
“I was sitting in a plane one day, and there goes my bag, which rode away. I said to the stewardess, ‘They took my bag away.’ She replied, ‘It was either get rid of the bags or people.'”
The airline lost his luggage on a flight to Minnesota, where he enjoyed ice fishing. “I was out in the boondocks by the time they found my luggage, then, they couldn’t find me,” he laughed.
After that debacle, he bought two suits at Macy’s in the Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minnesota.
However, when he landed in Philadelphia on the way home, he returned the suits to Macy’s in the Deptford Mall. “I didn’t like the color,” Rudy said.
Rudy’s Rods
Rudy’s love of fly fishing is legendary. Many camping trips to the Poconos were taken with young “runners” of the Herald. They were the people who, especially in summer when the Herald’s circulation was highest, would deliver bundles from the truck to stores.
Rudy judged about 10 of those young proteges had become fly fishermen because of their early days in the Delaware River and other freshwater rivers.
That love of casting for elusive fish resulted in Rudy establishing a small business called Rudy’s Rods.
Lovers of the sport would ask Rudy for a specific type of custom-made rod. Some had ornate feather arrangements and similar designs.
Rudy said that he made over 300 rods and sent them to various parts of the globe. His side job was reported in a Scandinavian magazine, with color photos of his handiwork.
His rods included “everything from deep-sea, bamboo, fly rods and regular roads. Whatever the customer wanted. Some of those bamboo rods went to Alaska and bought me some nice (fishing) trips,” he said.
Ho Ho Ho
Estimating how many Christmas wishes were told to “Santa” (aka Rudy) over 57 years would be impossible. He proudly points to a photo enlargement in his living room of the whiskered gentleman from the North Pole. The one he pointed to was snapped while Santa stopped in Menz Restaurant in Rio Grande some years ago.
A Natural MC
For many years, Middle Township Halloween and Christmas parades were narrated by Rudy from the judging stand. His rye sense of humor always brought laughter to those who lined the sidewalks to watch the line of march.
Sorry, Not Interested
During his years of public service, Rudy said he was approached several times by Republicans and Democrats to run for elected office. Each time, he refused their offers and instead elected to remain on the perimeter where he could express his opinions.
The Love of His Life
Bea K. Rudy was Gary’s soul mate until her passing on Nov 13, 2016.
According to her obituary from Radzieta Funeral Home, in Court House, “Bea was the loving and devoted wife of Gary Rudy for 52 years. They were not only man, wife, and best friends but worked side by side all those 52 years at G.C. Murphy Company in Wildwood, Murphy’s Mart in Cape May Court House, The Cape May County Herald, and the Independent Free Papers of America both in Rio Grande. They were fortunate to have been able to frequently travel throughout the U.S. and around the world. Her favorite destination was Hawaii, where she visited over 15 times.”
In Hospice Care
Rudy freely admits he has “no regrets” about his life.
At present, he is at home on hospice care with cancer.
“I made my peace with the Lord,” he said.
In his sunset days, he remembers the people he had the pleasure to have met over 84 years and the lives who were touched by the man so many simply call “Gary.”
