Rudolph Wippelhauser Obituary (2003)

HALLOWELL ? Rudolph Paul (Rudy) Wippelhauser, 88, died Thursday, March 27, 2003, in Hallowell at the home of his daughter, Gail. Born in Manhattan, Feb. 9, 1915, he was the youngest of the five children of Rudolf and Helena Wippelhauser, immigrants from Hungary. His mother was a great cook and baker, and his father was a butcher. From them he cultivated a love of good food, especially steak, and good times. He moved to Bogota, N.J., at age 6. He was an avid reader as a child, and was an animal lover. He prized a great, large cat that lived to the ripe age of 18 and followed him to the library downtown and back. He was a proud graduate of Bogota High School, class of 1933, and treasured their reunions in later life. Ultimately he landed a job as an inspector for the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission in Newark, N.J., where he made many lifelong friends and met his future wife, Adele Ondrejcek. He served in the Army during World War II, rising to the rank of first lieutenant, having graduated from the Parachute School and Coast Artillery Graduate School. He was stationed in New Jersey, South Carolina and Bermuda. He continued his service in the Army Reserve until 1953. On returning from the war, he rejoined the ABCC. On Sept. 17, 1949, he married Adele. They first lived in Irvington, N.J., where on Dec. 19, 1950, their daughter, Gail Susan, joined the family. In 1953 they moved into a new home at 7 Karla Drive in Whippany, N.J. There a much-loved boxer dog, Whiskey, and Siamese cat, Chaser, became members of the family. About the same time he joined Transamerica Insurance Co., with offices first in Newark and then in Livingston, N.J. He was a proud employee of the family-owned company, working for owners Harvey, Edwin, Sharon and Steven Rubenstein, greatly enjoying their personal relationships as well as business success. He began as a bondsman, writing performance bonds for construction and judicial action, and eventually rose to become the secretary-treasurer. The company had agents in most of the continental United States, and he spent significant time testifying in courts across the country on various aspects of performance bonding. After his retirement, he and his wife traveled often to visit their daughter, then a graduate student earning her doctorate in zoology from the University of Maine in Orono. Later he enjoyed accompanying and assisting his daughter in her study of fish migration. After an extended illness, his wife, Adele, died in May 1992. He chose to continue living in their home in Whippany. In August 2002 illness forced a move to Maine, where he lived with his daughter, Gail, a scientist for the Stock Enhancement Division of the Department of Marine Resources, and her husband, Bob McIntire, as well as Sophie, their dog and his close companion during his months in residence. While in Maine, he enjoyed evenings at Slates in Hallowell and Flickers Restaurant in East Winthrop where, to Rudy's delight, the owner greeted him as 'the senator from New Jersey,' regardless of the fact that he never held political office. In addition to his immediate family, he is survived by his niece, Karen, and husband Tom Flynn of Gilbert, Ariz., for whom he had great affection. He will be interred beside his wife in East Hanover, N.J. Plans for memorial services to be held in Hallowell and in Whippany, N.J., are incomplete. The family suggests memorial donations be made to the Kennebec Valley Humane Society, Pet Haven Lane, Augusta 04330. The family wishes to thank the staff of MaineGeneral Medical Center and the Maine Veterans Home for their service to Rudy in his times of greatest need. Arrangements are in the care of Knowlton & Hewins Funeral Home, 68 Second Street, Hallowell.