Lawrence Rudmann, Sr., World War II hero honored with banner in Ironton

By Terry L. Hapney, Jr.
The Ironton Tribune

The late Lawrence Rudmann, Sr., of Ironton, was a hero from America’s Greatest Generation.
A paratrooper landing in Normandy on D-Day who was among the first of the Allied troops to move into France when it was occupied by Germany in 1944, Lawrence served in the 82nd Airborne and was a POW during World War II. He returned to the United States after the war, living to age 98. He earned two bronze stars for his military service.
Earlier this month, Mike Pemberton, superintendent of the Street, Sanitation and Flood department with the city of Ironton, placed a tribute to Lawrence in the form of a commemorative banner at the corner of Sixth and Center streets.
“It’s the only banner on that corner,” Chris J. Rudmann of Pedro, Lawrence’s son, said.
Chris said the banner is not just a tribute to his father’s military service.
“I like to think of it as a tribute to him being such a great father,” Chris said. “He was always there for everybody—such a role model.”
When discussing the Greatest Generation, Chris said, “Every freedom we have is based on their sacrifices. He was not just a hero militarily, but my hero as a father.”
Lawrence met the love of his life, Margie, back before he entered the service in World War II.
“Mom passed away about the time he was retiring (1986),” Chris said. “We always asked him why he never remarried or sought out another companion. He said, ‘When you’ve had the prettiest and the best in the world, anything else would be less.’”
Lawrence was a Catholic at St. Lawrence, confirmed by Bishop Hartley.
“The Ironton Tigers play a school each year with that name, up around Columbus,” Chris said.
Lawrence’s confirmation by Hartley the man was 90 years ago.
It wasn’t easy, according to Chris, to put six kids through Catholic school on a single income.
“He did it,” Chris said. “He sacrificed, although it wasn’t a sacrifice to him. He wanted his kids to get a Catholic education like he had. I’m sure it cost a lot of money.”
Chris said Lawrence worked for Allied Chemical—the nitrogen plant in South Point ­— for nearly 19 years. He quit there to go to U.S. Steel.
“He pretty much gave up 20 years of seniority and his retirement to start all over again,” Chris said. “He put in another 35 years at U.S. Steel chemical division.”
One of the “greatest” stories Lawrence liked to tell, Chris said, was one in which Lawrence was “probably the only person on Earth who hit a human with a golf ball—the same guy twice in the same round.”
“Gerald Ford had nothing on Dad,” Chris said with a laugh. The former president, in a 1974 New York Times story, was teeing off in a game of golf and hit a spectator in the head with a golf ball. Ford’s tee shot also hit a woman in the head at the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am Golf Tournament in 1984, according to UPI.
Chris thanked Lou Pyles—who spearheads the Ironton-Lawrence County Memorial Day Parade—for his father’s banner.
“This tribute would not have been possible without her due diligence,” he said.
Chris reminisced about Lawrence’s military service and his time as Dad.
“If he was half the soldier that he was a father, then our country was in good shape,” Chris said.

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