Ruth Mildred Kudzia

Ruth Kudzia, 99, of Lexington, SC passed away peacefully in the afternoon of July 21, 2021. She was born in Peabody, MA on June 22, 1922 and lived a wonderful life for 99 years. Ruth was the daughter of the late Nicholas and Mildred Gulliford.

She was a WAVE in the United States Navy from 1944 until 1945. Ruth married her husband, Major Albert G. Kudzia on March 26, 1945. Ruth and Albert first met at an USO Dance in Boston, MA. They lived in Vienna, Austria after WWII as he was stationed there working with displaced persons (DP).

Ruth is survived by her children, Cathy J. Kudzia and David Kudzia (Janet); along with Mr. Sweetie, Mom’s only pet she loved and he provided her love and companionship for 15 years.

She was predeceased by her husband, Albert; her daughter, Bonny Lee Kudzia; sisters, Pearl and June and brother, Cal.

She loved gardening, grew beautiful roses, baking pies from scratch as recently as 5 weeks ago. Ruth loved to talk to everyone, people would come up to her on the street to talk because she was so approachable and no one was a stranger to her. When in Vienna, she had blonde hair and people would talk to her in GERMAN, thinking she was a native. She kept her home spotless with everything in its place and would do anything for her children. Cruising was one of her favorite pastimes. She cruised from New York to Cuba with a friend when she was only 17 years old.

One of our favorite memories is when we lived in Michigan Mom and Dad made an ice rink for us in the backyard at midnight.

Ida Foti was her best friend and was a Godsend. She did the vast majority of the work taking care of Mom in her last weeks. We cannot thank her enough for her love and caring for Mom.

A memorial service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery on a later date. In lieu of flowers, a contribution to Carolina Cats would be appreciated. Memorials may be mailed to PO Box 5465, Columbia, SC 29250 or online at http://PayPal.me/carocats.