Neil Rudd (standing) speaks with fellow members of Olive Methodist Church Justin Lamb (right) and wife Lexie during the church’s recent Homecoming celebration last month in Olive.
It’s difficult to find a kinder heart than that of Neil Rudd.
Those who know him well say there’s a quality to his smile, an infectious joy in his demeanor that lifts the spirits of those around him regardless of the circumstances. It’s his ministry to make others happy, according to Olive United Methodist Church Pastor Rick Miller.
Miller said he’d known Rudd – a member of Miller’s congregation and associate pastor for the church – for about 10 years. Rudd, he said, has a gift in that all who know him come away with an appreciation for him and a smile on their faces.
“The special thing about Neil Rudd, he’s so quick to pick people up,” Miller said. “He’s just got a very, very joyful spirit about him. … You’d have to know him. He’s a live wire, and I mean, he’s just very, very joyful. Everybody that comes in contact with him sort of leaves in a better frame of mind than they were when they met him, you know what I mean? That’s just the kind of guy Neil is. … Neil’s favorite ministry in the world is making people feel better.”
A devout Christian, Rudd participates in several outreach efforts. Miller said Rudd was an active member of the United Methodist Men’s organization, which worked to provide financial assistance to those in the community facing difficulties or in disaster relief efforts. Rudd would never think twice about reaching out to help someone who needed it, Miller said.
“If anybody comes to Neil when they’ve got a need, he’ll be there,” he said. “If he can’t give something to help them, he’ll give his time. … He’s helped us on numerous projects where we help people in the community to build something or to tear something down or, you know, something like that for them. He’s always there, every time we do something like that Neil’s part of it.”
Even if it’s just the little things, Rudd is the first to step up and lend a hand, Miller said. Often, the little things end up meaning so much.
“When I was – probably eight years ago, I had a shoulder surgery (for) a torn rotator cuff. I suppose I was no more than a couple days down with it after the operation,” Miller said. “He showed up one day at my house to cut my grass. And I didn’t ask anybody; in fact, the wife was going to do it for me, but he just showed up one morning, knocked on the door and said ‘I’m here to mow your lawn.’”
Rudd makes it his practice to be at the church every time the doors are open, serving as the self-appointed door greeter and Sunday bell ringer. The source of boundless energy, Rudd takes on an active role with children, as well. In addition to teaching Sunday school, each season Rudd begins his official elf duties, donning his Santa suit for local elementary school kids. He’s also served as a referee in the local Upward Basketball program for several years.
“He’ll never know just how grateful I am for the ministry he’s been there at Olive United Methodist,” Miller said. “… He always has this special handshake that he does with the kids, some kind of goofy thing that only them and he know … with all the kids. It’s not just older people he’s like that with, it’s everybody. The kids just love him. And it’s what he means to our church, he’s a big part of it. … There’s one lady that comes to our church, and she said, ‘If everybody in this church was like Neil Rudd, we’d be busting at the seams.’”
Olive Methodist members each month travel to visit with residents of Fern Terrace Lodge nursing home facility in Murray, and Rudd is virtually always a participant. The group sings and entertains residents, and according to fellow congregation member Justin Lamb, it’s Rudd who proves the star of the show.
“When we walk in, they want to know where Neil is,” Lamb said. “Because Neil is – if you ever know him – he’s a cut up, always got a smile on his face, always upbeat. (I’ve) never seen the man in a bad mood. He’s just a good, good person. … He gets up and skips around the room, and them old women up there just have a ball with him. I tell him they’re his groupies. He has followers up there. … He’s really dedicated to what he does.”
Lamb said Rudd was involved in virtually all of the church’s activities, and was among the core members that hold the congregation together. An ideal Christian, Lamb said it was Rudd who first welcomed he and his wife Lexie into the church; Rudd, he said, gave him a prayer stone – as he’s often known to do for visitors or new members – and Lamb has carried it with him since. The stone serves as a reminder to him about living the life of a Christian, one which he said Rudd sets an example for daily. It’s an example Lamb said he admires.
“He’s so devoted in his Christian faith,” Lamb said. “As Christians we’re called to serve one another, and I think that’s the big reason why Bro. Neil does it. He is a true example of a Christian. You know, he has his faults like we all do, but he’s a good, good man. … Any time those church doors are open or there’s an event, or somebody in that community out at Olive needs something, Bro. Neil is the first one to get up and say, ‘Hey, let’s get some money together, let’s do something for them. Let’s help them.’ … I’ve looked up to Bro. Neil.”
Lamb recalled a time when a local family was struggling after the patriarch suffered a health setback that later resulted in brain surgery. Rudd led the effort to provide some assistance.
“They didn’t even belong to our church,” Lamb said. “… But he was like, ‘Hey, they live right across the road from this church; let’s get something going.’ Any time they needed something, we were taking up a love offering for them, we put on a benefit concert for them, and that was all because of Bro. Neil Rudd. And it’s things like that – it makes me want to be more like him.”
His faith was a guiding light in how Rudd raised his own family, and the values he found there are those found in his children and grandchildren, as well. Rudd’s grandson, Luke – a deputy with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department – said they were values for which he was entirely grateful. Luke, himself, was recently recognized for his heroism in breaking out the glass and pulling a man from a burning car to safety.
Luke said his grandfather had been a solid influence in his life.
“As I’m getting and older … and getting more experience in life, I start to see my Dad getting older, who is turning into him,” Luke said. “… He laid the foundation, gave it to my dad, my dad laid the foundation and gave it to me. They say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
His activities, accomplishments and devotion to faith and community may be acts of generosity, Luke said, but really, it was just a part of who his grandfather is as a person: compassionate and giving. In Luke’s words, Rudd is a “blessing” and purely “awesome.”
“He’s a kind, loving person; always willing to help somebody,” Luke said. “… If he’s got the time to do something, he’s more than willing to help somebody. … That’s just who he is. He’s going to help somebody, he’s going to give whatever he can give to the best of his ability. It always seems like there’s something that he’s doing in a positive way.”
Family was always a priority to his grandfather, Luke said, and the Rudds remain close. The family makes it a point to eat together each Sunday, despite the business of everyday life. That family priority is a source of pride for the family; as, too, is Rudd.
“I’m extremely proud of him … I love him,” Luke said, tearfully. “I’m happy that he raised my dad the way that he did and taught him some life lessons that my dad could pass on to me. I’m just happy that he’s my granddad.”