Trudy Ann Rideout of Laguna Beach died peacefully at the UCI Medical Center in Orange on October 6, 2020, surrounded by loving family and devoted medical professionals, after a valiant five-year struggle with breast cancer. Trudy was born on March 11, 1940, in north Chicago to Clara and George Mikell. She attended Immaculata High School where she earned top grades and was active in drama and sports. After one year of local college at DePauw University, Trudy convinced her parents to allow her to transfer to the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She thrived at UW where she graduated in June 1963 with a degree in Secondary Education. She worked part-time while at UW in teaching, fashion, and radio broadcasting. Trudy's communication skills and beauty at UW led to a number of awards: her fellow-students awarded her the much coveted title of "Badger Beauty" in 1961; she competed for and won the title of Miss Madison in May 1962 and later that year she was second runner-up in the Miss Wisconsin contest held in Kenosha; and in November she was named Homecoming Queen for the final football game of the season for the Rose Bowl-bound UW football team. The Homecoming King for that contest was a young engineering student named Vincent Leo Rideout; the couple is shown together in a memorable photograph in front of thousands of fans. Thereafter on June 29,1963 and after each had graduated earlier in the month, Trudy and Leo married at St. Paul University Catholic Chapel. Trudy and Leo pursued graduate studies in California from 1963 to 1966, Leo first at Stanford and both Trudy and Leo later at USC. Trudy earned a masters degree in Speech Communication at USC from the prestigious Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and Leo earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. The young couple then spent a delightful year in Holland where Leo completed his post-doctoral research and Trudy charmed the Dutch with her cooking and fashion. Leo's schedule was light enough to permit extensive travel and exploration in Europe. Trudy and Leo returned to Westchester County, New York, in 1968 where Leo landed a job at IBM as one of the elite Watson research scientists, and Trudy taught primary school. They also became parents of two daughters: Kimberly, born in 1971, and Kristina, born in 1973. After Leo achieved considerable success with research and patents, IBM moved the young family to Burlington, Vermont, in 1980 where Leo became the leader of IBM's research lab. This happy and rewarding period for the family was crowned when Trudy was appointed Professor of Speech and Communications at the University of Vermont. Her teaching skills and warm and open personality quickly led to a grant of tenure. In her private life, Trudy spent long hours immersing her daughters in art, music, and dance. The Rideout family moved again to New Canaan, Connecticut in 1984 where Leo was offered a research job with the Olin Corporation. Trudy's early life was sadly upended shortly thereafter when Leo died in September 1984 at the age of 44. Rising to the challenge of single motherhood and limited resources, she made a courageous and ultimately successful move to southern California in 1985. Living first in Irvine and later in Newport Beach, Trudy taught communication, public speaking, and children's literature at several community colleges, most notably Orange Coast College. A reading of Teacher Evaluations by Trudy's students reveal a consistent message: Trudy was a beloved teacher, generous with her time, skills, and affection. Trudy joined Our Lady Queen of Angels parish (OLQA) in 1999 when she moved to her "dream" house at 2216 Fiesta In Newport Beach. While busy teaching and furnishing her lovely new home, Trudy plunged into the OLQA community with energy, skill, and compassion. She joined an excellent OLQA choir in which she sang alto for the better part of two decades; she read scripture from the altar as a lector; and she became a member of the Small Faith Sharing ministry where she met a retired corporate lawyer and widower by the name of Richard Geib. She and Richard fell in love and married on January 2, 2004. Her final move was to his ocean-view home in Laguna Beach which she decorated and furnished with her customary exquisite taste. Trudy is survived by: her husband Richard; her two daughters, Kimberly Rideout Cardoso and Kristina Rideout, and their husbands, Bill Cardoso and Christopher Leger; her brother George Mikell; her cousin Jackie Stein; and her five grandchildren: Leo, Eddie, and Chloe Cardoso, and Calder and Sequoia Leger. Trudy's life will be celebrated at a funeral mass at OLQA at 10:00 a.m. on October 26. OLQA is located at 2046 Mar Vista Drive in Corona del Mar. She will be laid to rest at a private family service at a time to be announced at Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary, 3500 Pacific View Drive in Corona del Mar. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Trudy's name to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, P.O Box 5028, Hagerstown, Md., 21741.
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