John (Bud) Dudik III
John (Bud) Dudik III passed away at home surrounded by his family on May 13, 2021. He was 90 years old. John was born April 9, 1931 in East St. Louis, Illinois to Elmer John Dudik and Eleanor Dorothy Duffy. He lived in E. St. Louis until the age of nine when his family moved to another suburb of E. St. Louis called French Village, it was because of this move that dad met the love of his life while in the 4th grade. John and Lois Ann Elliott became inseparable best friends while in the 4th grade. When John was 15 he went to live with his paternal grandparents and after graduating from Collinsville High School John and Lois were married in Caseyville, Illinois on March 18, 1950.
They enjoyed celebrating their 71st anniversary this year. After they married, they went to Phoenix, Arizona for their honeymoon and stayed. There John became an apprentice electrician and they bought their first home. They were blessed with 3 children Judy, John IV(Jay),and Jill. In 1953 they made a life changing choice when they joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They were sealed in the Mesa Arizona Temple in 1954.
Never afraid to try anything they tackled adding on to their small 2-bedroom home. In 1957 they sold their small home and bought an old farmhouse that sat on 7 acres. In 1959 an opportunity presented itself and together they tackled the difficult task of building a mobile home park on their land. Together they got their plumbers license, they learned how to pour cement pads, and any other task required for the construction. An on the job injury at the electric sign company where dad worked provided him the opportunity to complete a dream of earning his private pilot license. Mom worked hard and got her pilot license too.
In 1964 they sold the Lazy D Mobile Home Park and moved to Parker, Arizona. There they built the 2nd Lazy D Mobile Home Park. After a short time the opportunity was given to them to build an ice company. Needless to say an ice company built in the middle of the desert right on the Colorado river at a time when there were no small ice machine yet to supply restaurants and individuals with ice needed to keep their drinks cool, was an overwhelming success. While there they also bought an older motel and remodeled it to bring it up to date.
In 1968 they went home to Illinois to help John’s grandparents when his grandpa was diagnosed with cancer. What started out as a 2 month stay turned into an 18 month stay when Lois’s father and brother-in-law both passed away. They sold their businesses in Parker and dad went back to work as an electrician in E. St. Louis. While at this job dad was offered a job in Billings, Montana. So they packed up the family this time including dad’s grandma and moved to Billings but the day after they arrived they put their oldest daughter Judy on the plane and sent her off to college. Jay and Jill finished high school at Billings Senior High. Mom and Dad built a new home on a vacant lot next door to the home they had purchased when they moved to Billings the year before.
Once again, the bug to be independent and make their own way in the world hit. They bought the old Kings Rest Motel in the heights and on the land behind the motel they put in mobile home spaces. They sold the Kings Rest and the new owners changed the name to the Heights Inn. They bought about 18 acres in Shepherd. They bought an older home on Grand Ave that needed to be moved and moved it to their land. Mom opened Windmill Nursery and grew trees to sell but soon learned that it was more work than her back could take, so closed it down.
They bought more land out in Worden and moved a couple of homes from town out to the land and again remodeled them. At this time, they took advantage of the opportunity to serve a mission for their church and they went to Argentina where all of their skills of building were put to use building new homes for the people in a small town destroyed by an earthquake. Upon returning they moved to Utah for a short time to be near Judy and her family. But Montana called them back home and Dad started driving truck. Mom joined him, learning how to drive an 18-wheeler.
They worked for several different companies over the next few years until they went to work for United Van Lines. There they found a job that fit them. They went on to become the number one van drivers for the world and as a reward were offered the chance to go to Europe to attend a conference in Belgium. They took the opportunity to travel while there. Upon returning home they continued to work for United until dad fell while at work and damaged his right elbow and shoulder.
Back in Shepherd they decided to take part of their land and build some mini storage units to provide them income and retirement in the future. While home recovering from his on the job injuries and building the storage units dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was able to beat the cancer but not able to return to driving for United. His cancer returned in 2018 and this time the cancer beat him. Dad succumbed to cancer while at home under the care of his daughter Dr. Jill Bross and her son Dr. Greg Bross.
He is survived by his wife Lois, daughter Judy (Steve) Nixon of Shepherd, MT., son Jay Dudik of Englewood, Colorado, and daughter Dr. Jill (John) Bross of Moses Lake, WA, sister Judy Warg, grandchildren Stephen (Sharlee) Nixon Jr, Samuel (Stephanie) Nixon, Robert (Nikki) Nixon, Becky Carreno, Leah (Mark) Rude, Amber (Jim) Passon, Nick (Dawn) Bross, Dr. Greg (Lacey) Bross, Dr. David (Yasi) Bross, Michael (Krista) Bross, 11 nieces and nephews, 20 great grandchildren, and 4 great great grandchildren,.
He was preceded in death by his parents, older sister Nina and his beloved grandparents John and Theresia Dudik.
A memorial ceremony will take place July 31 when family and friends are planning to attend.
