“Rudy” Rudolph George Kuser III had a greeting so boisterous you can hear it still bouncing through the Roanoke Valley and if you listen closer, that’s the whir of his bike spokes. He loved his bicycle and tuned it after every ride. He could be seen sweating on it in summer and freezing his toes off down slick streets in winter. A much-adored resident of Roanoke Veteran’s Care Center, he rarely wanted to talk of anything other than the veterans care staff who treated Rudy like family. He raved of their love for the residents and got a kick out of roaming the halls where he knew not only everyone’s name but the names of their spouses and children and pets because if he knew you existed, he was praying for you. He was happiest on days when staff would bring in their dogs. Rudy loved joshing with the kitchen crew who he said fed him like a king. He helped organize the center’s library and enjoyed the nature trail, pointing out animal sculptures to fellow hikers. Rudy was contemplative and saw things in a different light. This made for some difficult years before he found his Roanoke community.
Rudy Kuser is well-known at local Catholic ministries as much of his time went to joyfully serving with repairs and heavy lifting using his strong 6’-2” frame.
Rudy is survived by four of his six siblings (his last-known video words were to a brother, “I love you, don’t forget.”), a daughter in Ohio who blessed him with three granddaughters, and they with two great-grandchildren. He also leaves behind four nieces, one nephew, 7.96 billion friends, a stepmother and a son WHOM he severely mistook for the greatest kid in history and whose published book arrived the same day that Rudy peacefully died while dreaming of saints; had he held on for a week, he could’ve had his own copy. Now he has to share one with his father, R. George Kuser Jr., and mother, Claire McHugh Kuser. They received him at heaven’s gate to Rudy’s famously vivacious “Hi!”
Graveside service will be held on Friday, August 5, 2022 at 2 p.m. at Southwest Virginia Veteran Cemetery, Dublin, VA. with full military honors. Arrangements by Oakey's Roanoke Chapel