Rudy Pepprock Jr., Hamilton, was born on a warm spring day in 1939. He passed with family at his side on September 26th at Majestic Senior Living in Corvallis.
He was raised on a dairy farm in Northern Wisconsin and worked hard doing chores before and after school. He also cut pulpwood in his spare time to help the family.
Rudy married the love of his life, Barbara Kozak, in 1960, and seven children were brought into the family. They celebrated 64 years of marriage just this past August.
Rudy served proudly in the Wisconsin National Guard and was activated into duty at Fort Lewis in Washington State during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Fidel was lucky that the crisis was resolved quickly, because Rudy was a skilled marksman, often entering and winning local turkey shoot contests. During this time he also worked in a machine shop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Moving back to Northern Wisconsin in the mid 60s, he helped form a snowmobile club and was the organization’s first president. He and Barb spent many hours riding the beautiful Wisconsin trails which the group helped maintain.
With a dream to cut big timber, he and the family packed up everything that they owned and moved to Montana in 1976 and settled in the Bitterroot Valley. He spent many years working in the logging industry and cut timber until his retirement. He was well-known as an expert woodsman and was never without work. His slow, methodical way of approaching the job kept him safe his entire career, when often others were not as fortunate in the dangerous profession.
Fun times were spent motorcycling with Barb to all parts, and nothing made him happier than finding a peaceful, quiet place for them to camp for a weekend. He was a lifelong motorsports fan, and would attend events whenever possible. One of his favorite memories was the time he got to meet his racing hero NHRA World Champion John Force, shook his hand and had his picture taken with him. Also a fan of the old western TV show, “Gunsmoke,” you could pretty much count on it always being on the TV when you went over to the house.
Rudy is survived by five sons, Randy, Jesse, Greg, Roger and Daryld, his two daughters, Debbie and Julie, 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He is preceded in his death by his parents, Rudy Sr. and Katherine, his brother Gene, and his beloved grandson, Jesse Sims. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.whitesittfuneralhome.com.