Obituary for James Aldon Rudd
James Alden Rudd
2/29/1952 – 5/12/2023
James Alden Rudd was born on February 29th, 1952, in Everett, WA at Everett General Hospital, to Payton, Sr. and Eva Rudd. His parents worked at the café in Maxwelton, and young Jim grew up learning to dig clams along the beach and to fish offshore, with his older brothers Payton, Jr., and Jayson. Their father was also an electrician and did the wiring on a number of places on the island, including the ballpark at Dave Mackie Memorial Park. (The lights on the log poles were dedicated on July 4th, 1947, making the Maxwelton field the smallest lit ballpark in the United States at the time.)
Jim attended Coupeville High School and he became an avid sailor. Besides sailing around the island, his many adventures included heading for Alaska to go fishing, with the vessel he was aboard hitting a rock. He was able to make it ashore and get back through Canada to the Island, with “motivation” from the RCMP. He had other trips through the Inside Passage, and at one point he staked a mining claim in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Jim also loved to tell stories of riding with bush pilots on floatplanes when he worked at a cedar shake plant near Ketchikan.
Jim was a great logger and fisherman. He and his wife Cara lived near Bailey’s Corner Store and did yardwork together all-over South Whidbey. When Bailey’s still had a woodstove, he would go up early and light the fire in that stove each morning. He loved drinking coffee and swapping stories with his good friends there.
Jim was devoted to his wife Cara, and they enjoyed camping near Deception Pass or along the Skagit River, among other things. They looked forward to going to the Fourth of July parades held in Maxwelton every summer. Their lives were woven intricately into the tapestry of our community. Jim was a member of the Eagles and the Foreign Legion. Jim and Cara were dearly loved by family members and showed kindness to countless others behind the scenes in a myriad of ways. They especially enjoyed being on the water catching king and silver salmon, bass, perch, and cod, and seeing the eagle’s fly overhead, or watching the summer sunsets together from the shore.
Jim passed peacefully from this life early Friday morning, May 12th in Coupeville. He was a warm and open-hearted guy who expressed a simple but beautiful faith at the end of his days here. Just being around him rekindled a hope of how good and kind people really can be. Jim is now reunited with his beloved Cara in heaven, free at last. There will be a celebration of his life at Bailey’s Corner Store on Sunday, June 4th, beginning at 2:00 pm. This will be a potluck and an open mic will be set up for those who wish to share remembrances of Jim.
2/29/1952 – 5/12/2023
James Alden Rudd was born on February 29th, 1952, in Everett, WA at Everett General Hospital, to Payton, Sr. and Eva Rudd. His parents worked at the café in Maxwelton, and young Jim grew up learning to dig clams along the beach and to fish offshore, with his older brothers Payton, Jr., and Jayson. Their father was also an electrician and did the wiring on a number of places on the island, including the ballpark at Dave Mackie Memorial Park. (The lights on the log poles were dedicated on July 4th, 1947, making the Maxwelton field the smallest lit ballpark in the United States at the time.)
Jim attended Coupeville High School and he became an avid sailor. Besides sailing around the island, his many adventures included heading for Alaska to go fishing, with the vessel he was aboard hitting a rock. He was able to make it ashore and get back through Canada to the Island, with “motivation” from the RCMP. He had other trips through the Inside Passage, and at one point he staked a mining claim in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Jim also loved to tell stories of riding with bush pilots on floatplanes when he worked at a cedar shake plant near Ketchikan.
Jim was a great logger and fisherman. He and his wife Cara lived near Bailey’s Corner Store and did yardwork together all-over South Whidbey. When Bailey’s still had a woodstove, he would go up early and light the fire in that stove each morning. He loved drinking coffee and swapping stories with his good friends there.
Jim was devoted to his wife Cara, and they enjoyed camping near Deception Pass or along the Skagit River, among other things. They looked forward to going to the Fourth of July parades held in Maxwelton every summer. Their lives were woven intricately into the tapestry of our community. Jim was a member of the Eagles and the Foreign Legion. Jim and Cara were dearly loved by family members and showed kindness to countless others behind the scenes in a myriad of ways. They especially enjoyed being on the water catching king and silver salmon, bass, perch, and cod, and seeing the eagle’s fly overhead, or watching the summer sunsets together from the shore.
Jim passed peacefully from this life early Friday morning, May 12th in Coupeville. He was a warm and open-hearted guy who expressed a simple but beautiful faith at the end of his days here. Just being around him rekindled a hope of how good and kind people really can be. Jim is now reunited with his beloved Cara in heaven, free at last. There will be a celebration of his life at Bailey’s Corner Store on Sunday, June 4th, beginning at 2:00 pm. This will be a potluck and an open mic will be set up for those who wish to share remembrances of Jim.