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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 24, 1970)
*,mv\ ..v-wwi*'}-. "-V. •' v-\ CNING 1 7ITH GSH ES 9 ble jverage "ake iNING * LOAF 5AUCE average .bles STEAK RAVY average bles AND C E S tMET 1ING UL ;k FEAT NING v )read verage ales D EN ;oes 3 verage DIAL 26 3ing verage - any s Cbe Battalion Vol. 65 No. 91 College Station, Texas Tuesday, March 24, 1970 Telephone 845-2226 ‘Service’ Describes Life Rudder Dead at 59; Services Wednesday James Earl Rudder is dead. The 59-year-old Rudder, presi dent of Texas A&M University and the Texas A&M University System, died at 5:10 p.m. Monday in St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston. Death, according to the hospital, was caused by cir culatory collapse brought on by a kidney infection. News of Rudder’s death was withheld for nearly three hours (until 8 p.m.) until members of All classes will be dismissed and campus offices closed Wed nesday, in tribute to President Rudder, announced Chairman Clyde Wells of the Texas A&M System Board of Directors. his family could be notified. This was done at the family’s request. The retired Army general de veloped the kidney infection Sun day and was moved from his third-floor private room to the hospital’s intensive care unit. His condition, which had been listed as satisfactory, was changed to serious. He continued to worsen, and Monday he developed irregular blood pressure. Monday after noon his condition was listed as critical. Rudder, president of Texas A&M for the past 10 years, first became ill at his home in College Station Jan. 29. He was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan. The following day he was trans ferred to St. Luke’s and was be lieved to be suffering from a heart ailment. He was trans ferred to Methodist Hospital, al so in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, when it was learned that he had a cerebral hemor rhage. On Feb. 5 he underwent sur gery to remove a blood clot from his brain. Following the opera tion, his condition was listed as serious. He was transferred back to St. Luke’s Feb. 6 and underwent sur gery to stop stomach bleeding brought on by a stress ulcer. He later underwent two more opera tions to control the bleeding. On Feb. 19 his condition was listed as satisfactory by his doc tors, the first time he had been listed as other than serious since the beginning of his ordeal. At the Feb. 24 meeting of the A&M Board of Directors, board member H. C. Heldenfels of Cor pus Christi told board members that he had been to Houston over the weekend to see Rudder and that he had been assured by doc tors that no brain damage was present and that a “rapid recov ery” by Rudder was expected. Barring setbacks, doctors told Heldenfels, Rudder would be home in 30 days to 6 weeks (by the middle of April). It was after the board of di rectors meeting, in March, when Rudder underwent further opera tions to control his stomach ulcer. A 1932 A&M graduate, Rudder returned in 1958 to become vice president of the institution. A year and a half later, in July, 1959, he became president of the university. In September of 1965 he was named president of the A&M system. The system includes Texas A&M, Prairie View A&M College, Tarleton State College, the Texas Forestry Service, the Texas Mari time Academy, the Texas Agri cultural Extension Service, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, the Texas Engineering Extension Service, the Texas En gineering Experiment Station and the Texas Transportation Insti tute. Survivors include his widow, Mrs. Margaret Williamson Rud der; two sons, James E. (Bud) Rudder Jr. of Tulsa, Okla., and Robert Rudder of College Sta tion; three daughters, Mrs. M. M. Walton of Midland, Mich., Miss Jane Rudder who is teaching school in Hearne, and Miss Linda Rudder, a student at the Univer sity of Texas at Austin; a broth er, John Rudder of Brady; and a grandson, Marc of Midland, Mich. For President Rudder Services Tomorrow, Taps Tonight Silver Memorial services for A&M President Earl Rudder will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday in G. Rollie White Coliseum. Interment will be in a local cemetery with military honors. Hillier Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family requests gifts to the James Earl Rudder Memorial Fund at the university. The body will lie in state in the rotunda of the System Ad ministration Building from 9 a.m. until 12 noon Wednesday. The elite Ross Volunteers will form an honor guard in the rotunda. Persons wishing to pay their re spects are urged to park east of the System Building and enter by the east door. Silver Taps for the 59-year- old former major general are scheduled at 10:30 tonight in front of the Academic Building. Wednesday services will be of ficiated by the Rev. James B. Argue, former College Station Methodist Church miinster now pastor in Little Rock, Ark. Rev. Argue was a member of the presidential party at Rudder’s inauguration March 26, 1960. Participating in the services will be the Singing Cadets, civil ian chaplain Ed Donnell of Free port, corps chaplain Harry A. Snowdy of Port Lavaca and an honor line of approximately 40 students through which the casket will enter the coliseum. Muffled dx-ums will be sounded during the entrance. (See Silver Taps, page 2) Of A&M’s Earl Rudder State, University Officials Praise Rudder By Tom Curl James Earl Rudder’s death ended his life as head of the vast Texas A&M University System, a system that includes one uni versity, two colleges and research and extension branches. But his life was by no means restricted to the field of univer sity administration. His eventful life was full of private and public service on the athletic field, in battle and in government positions. Born in Eden, Texas, Rudder attended what is now Tarleton State College and then trans ferred to Texas A&M in 1930, where he majored in industrial education and lettered in foot ball. While at Tarleton he worked his way by milking a Jersey cow given him by the Lions Club and selling the milk to the dorms. At A&M, he held concessions to sell brooms to the freshmen and to sell cold drinks at ath letic events. In between, he was jerking soda, dishwashing, jani- toring, and waiting tables. Barlow “Bones” Irvin, former A&M athletic director, was a line coach for the Aggies during Rud der’s two .'years of football. Irvin remembers the 180-pound center as a “very agressive” player who “started most of the time.” “I don’t know anything but good about him” commented Irvin. After graduation in 1932 Rud der was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Reserve. His first year out of college, dur ing the depression, found him earning less than in school. For two bits an hour, he swung a pick and shovel excavating for a bridge near Menard. In 1933 he became a teacher and coach at Brady High School, where he met his future wife, Miss Margaret Williamson of Menard. They were married in June, 1937. Rudder returned to John Tar leton Agricultural College (as it was then called) in 1938, where he was a football coach and teacher until 1941, when he was called to active duty as a second lieutenant. It was in the militaxy in World War II that Rudder gained the reputation for excellence that was to be with him the rest of his life. After schooling at Ft. Ben- ning, Ga., and a term as a bat talion executive officer at Camp Atterbury, Ind., Rudder attended the Army Command and Gen eral Staff School in the fall of 1942. In June, 1943, he organ ized and trained the 2nd Ranger Battalion, which ultimately played an important part in the D-Day invasion. The most spectacular military maneuver on that day was the assault on the 90-foot cliffs at Pointe du Hoe in Normandy, France. The then Lt. Col. Rud der was ordered by a lieutenant general not to lead his Ranger Battalion in an assault on the cliffs. When the general told Rudder he could not risk his being knocked out in the first round, the Texan faced him and said: “I’m sorry to disobey you, sir, but if I don’t take it, it may not go.” With that, he led his troops in the bloody assault and scaled the cliffs. “No soldier in my command has ever been wished a more difficult task than that which befell the 34-year-old commander (Rudder) of this Ranger force,” commented General Omar Brad ley, then commander of the U.S. Ground Forces in Europe. Rudder’s forces suffered more than 50 per cent casualties during the first day of the in vasion. Although wounded twice, Rudder remained in action. In December, 1944, he took command of the 109th Infantry (See ‘Service,’ page 3) ‘Phenomenal’ Growth Seen During Rudder’s 10 Years By Tom Curl “I accept this charge in full realization of its gravity and im portance to our state and nation. It is a charge I will do my utmost to keep. May the Almighty guide and grant me wisdom in this un dertaking.” Thus ended the inauguration address of James Earl Rudder as he accepted the position of Presi dent of the Agricultural and Me chanical College of Texas. It was the end of the beginning; a be ginning that led to phenomenal GREAT SAVINGS PLANS made even better by new legal rates at FIRST BANK & TRUST. Adv. growth in physical facilities and student enrollment in 10 short years. Earl Rudder was president of the state’s original land - grant university for just three days short of a decade; a decade that saw enrollment almost double in number as the university was opened to all students on an equal basis. President Rudder returned to the A&M campus in February, 1958, as vice president and was elevated to the presidency in July, 1959. His inauguration in March of the next year brought responses from students, faculty and his peers in administrative positions. “I congratulate this institution and all of Texas for the good judgement shown in selecting him to be president of Texas A&M College,” said Dr. Troy Middle- ton, president of Louisiana State University, at the inauguration of Rudder. “In the individual spheres of our classrooms and laboratories, we pledge you our dedicated ef forts for the good of the young men entrusted to us,” was the promise of Dr. Tyrus R. Timm of the Department of Agricul tural Economics and Sociology, on behalf of the faculty. (See Phenomenal, page 2) ‘His Loss Will Be Mourned’ By Pam Troboy Battalion News Editor Gov. Preston Smith joined other Texans Monday night in paying tribute to President Earl Rudder, “a great Texan whose loss will be mourned by all who knew him.” “Not only has the state lost a great educator, but also a war hero, of whom we were all proud,” Smith said. “Mrs. Smith joins me in extending our sincere condolences to the family.” Sen. Ralph Yarborough called Rudder’s death a tragic loss to the state, the school and the cause of education. “Earl Rudder has brought Tex as A&M University to new heights of achievement, excel lence and prestige,” Yarborough said. “The university and the state needed his services,” he said. “He has made a high mark in the history of Texas education and I join with the 11 million other Texans in mourning the loss of this able, energetic, dedicated public servant. His family, his university, his state, his com munity and the nation will all miss his dynamic leadership.” Rep. Olin E. Teague of College Station said that Rudder “was one of the closest friends I had in the world and I don’t think anyone knows more than I do what a great American and what a great Texan we have lost. He was the best.” State Sen. Bill Moore said that the loss was one of a “very good personal friend who would really be missed.” He said that Rudder was one of the “finest admin istrators ever at A&M.” Senator John Tower sent Mrs. Rudder a telegram this morning expressing his sympathy. He said that Rudder was “an outstanding Texas leader and a man in whom we can all take pride. His loss is not only yours but that of all Texans.” The senator’s secretary indicat ed that he would insert some re marks concerning Rudder into the Congressional Record. Congressman Graham Purcell, from the 13th district, said that he had lost a good friend whose “wise counsel and wai’m friend ship will be sorely missed.” “The distinguished soldier and war hero, administrator, educator and fidend of Texas A&M has passed the torch to us,” Purcell said. “His firm hand on the helm has guided the university through troubled waters and it is up to us to carx*y on his unfinished task. We are all better for his having passed our way and we can best serve his memory by car rying on the work he was unable to complete.” Clyde Wells of Granbury, chair man of the board of the Texas A&M system, called Rudder’s death “not only a tremendous loss to Texas A&M but to the entire nation. “He was a great administrator and leader, taking any assign ment and doing it well,” Wells said. “He was a leader in France and then when Gov. (Allan) Shiv ers asked him to take over the land office, he took care of that task well. “When we asked him to become an administrator of a major uni versity, he did that well. He was a leader that many people are going to miss. We shall miss him and hope to find a man that can take this position and do the job that Gen. Rudder was able to accomplish.” Frank C. Erwin, chairman of the board of the University of Texas, said that the university mourned the passing of “a great Aggie, a great Texan and a great American.” “Unfortunately,” said Erwin, “his like will not again pass this way soon.” Ford D. Albritton Jr. of Bryan, member of A&M’s board of di rectors, called Rudder “the man for the era.” “Earl Rudder did what was re- University National Bank “On the side of Texas A&M.” —Adv. quired and as a result led Texas A&M University through its fin est era,” he said. “Gen. Rudder placed this uni versity in a position of achieve ment, not only on campus but in building a reputation of interna tional excellence,” Albritton con tinued. “He was indeed a great man. His loss will be felt at home, throughout the nation and in the world.” Dr. Horace R. Byers, academic vice president, said that A&M had lost a “great leader of stu dents and an inspiring leader of faculty and staff.” “He was a kind man who loved people—from the lowliest worker to the highest government offi cial or business tycoon, from the most humble student to the most distinguished professor. He will be sorely missed.” Tom Cherry, business affairs vice president, said that he didn’t have words to express his per sonal grief, but that the univer sity, state and nation had suf fered a great loss. James P. Hannigan, dean of (See His Loss, page 3) TAPS TONIGHT—Student Senate President Gerry Geist- weidt this morning places the card announcing Silver Taps tonight for the late A&M President Earl Rudder into its holder on the flagpole in front of the Academic Building. The action was part of a brief memorial service for Rudder held shortly after 8. Academic Vice President Horace R. Byers spoke briefly about the late president. (Photo by David Middlebrooke)