Michael Rudzinski:
CLASS OF 1974
Wayne Memorial High SchoolClass of 1974
Wayne, MI
Calumet High SchoolClass of 1974
Calumet, MI
Marshall Junior High SchoolClass of 1971
Westland, MI
Arcturus Junior High SchoolClass of 1971
Ft. richardson, AK
Maplewood Elementary SchoolClass of 1968
Rantoul, IL
Michael's Story
Life
My Wife
Second time around, her name is Natalie. First wife (Bonnie) passed away in 1993 from cancer at a young age.
My Kids
#1. My oldest daughter lives in Washington and works as a case worker and she has two grown children.
#2. My oldest son was killed in action in Afghanistan on 16 October 2009 and he left behind his wife (from Germany) and a young son, who is now a teenager this year. He also had another son from a previous relationship who died after childbirth. That was a grandson I never met. We still consider his widow as our daughter and part of the family and she lives in the US and keeps in touch with the family. She has another boy with her fiancé and we consider him our grandson as well.
#3. My "baby" girl (my princess) died in an accident in 2005. She was 21 and a college student.
#4. The next boy is married to a lovely woman from South Africa and they have a boy and a girl due in July of this year. He served in Army and they live in Illinois.
#5. This son is in Illinois and married to a lovely and sweet woman he knew in high school and they have three kids; 2 boys and our fist granddaughter, who was born in 2020.
#6. The youngest son recently graduated from Illinois State and works in a graphics communications company and he is dating a wonderful woman who is finishing her degree. That's a total of 6 kids and 10 grandkids (and counting) for me, with three tragic losses. This Dad/Opa hopes he doesn't have to see any more loss before he departs from this world....Expand for more
We also have a few pseudo-kids and grandkids. One of the soldiers who was injured in the same battle where Chris died has "adopted" Natalie and me as his parents, or at least in addition to his mom and dad. He's married with a young boy and teenage girl and they live in Florida.
My Job
I retired from the University of Illinois in 2016 (and the Army in 2008) and now I'm a special agent for the Department of Defense. Retirement #3 is coming, but not just yet.
Military
I served thirty years in the Army and Army Reserve and I'm now retired. Fourteen plus years of this was active duty in Germany, Arizona, Massachusetts, Washington, Illinois and Korea. Sixteen years were in the Reserves in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Germany, Egypt (twice), and Kuwait. I was mobilized for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and I retired as a colonel. I missed it so much I took that job with the Department of Defense. You can take the soldier out of the Army but you can't take the Army out of the solder....
I am enjoying the hell out of living in AZ and looking back on my life, family and experiences. No kids in the house with 2 legs, but 3 little princesses with 4 legs and tails. We are finding time to experience our favorite activities and trying some new ones. Natalie started an on-line boutique and recently I went fly-fishing for the first time in New Mexico near Taos, where I caught five trout. I also took my first hot-air balloon flight.
God is great, life (and beer) is good, and people are crazy.
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