Victor Augustine Rudis, age
57 of Knoxville, TN passed away on November
15, 2007, in his home after a long illness. He was born August 27, 1950 in
Boston, MA to the late Hans Rudis and his wife Stephanie "Stella"
(Okuniewski) Rudis. Preceded in death by a sister, Pauline Rudis. He is
survived by his loving wife of 31 years, Mary R. (DeRonde) Rudis and their
two sons, Jeffrey D. Rudis and Jonathan F. Rudis, and a brother Steven
Rudis of Boston, MA. He is also survived by nieces Christina Poma of
Hawaii and Melinda Darrigo of Massachusetts, several great nieces and
nephews and numerous cousins in the United States and in Germany. His
educational accomplishments include a BS in Biology from Boston College, a
MS in Ecology from Rutgers University and a MS in Forestry from the
University of Wisconsin. For the past 27 years he was a Research Forester
with the USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Forest Inventory
and Analysis Unit. At the beginning of his career, he was one of the
pioneers in efforts to incorporate and study the non-forest issues in
forest resource assessments across the southern United States. His
accomplishments are far-reaching and have included substantial
contributions in the areas of landscape ecology, fragmentation, invasive
species, and human impacts on forest systems. His impressive publication
history includes contributions to over 40 government publications, books,
proceedings, and articles published in at least 8 different scientific
journals. He demonstrated genuine curiosity for and love of forest
resources in the southern United States, and sought to better the program
for which he worked through a spirit of enthusiasm, cooperation and
collaboration that will be sorely missed. He was a member of the Society
of American Foresters, the Ecological Society of America, The Nature
Conservancy, the Sierra Club and Sigma XI Scientific Research Society. He
was a former member and President of the Mississippi Native Plant Society.
He was a former member of the World Neighbor's Association at Mississippi
State University, Starkville, MS, where he and his family served as a host
family for numerous international students for a number of years.
Recently, he was the webmaster and photographer for Bearden High School
Swimming and Diving Team, Knoxville, TN. Over the years he resided in
Boston, MA, New Brunswick, NJ, Madison, WI, New Orleans, LA, and
Starkville, MS. His special interests were gardening and landscaping,
especially with native plants and photography. Wake services were held at
Click Funeral Home Farragut Chapel. A Mass was held at All Saints Catholic
Church with Father Michael Woods
and Father Augustine Idra A.J. concelebrants. Victor was laid to rest at
Concord Masonic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be
made to American Cancer Society, 871 Weisgarber Road, Knoxville, TN 37909
or to the Nature Conservancy, Attn: Treasury, 4245 North Fairfax Drive,
Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203. Click Funeral Home Farragut Chapel, 11915
Kingston Pike is serving the Rudis family.
NOTICE: This page is being kept for archival purposes only and will not
be updated or maintained.
Information on this page is solely the choice of the
author, Victor Rudis, not University of Tennessee, Mississippi State
University or the USDA Forest Service.
