Author of the article: Calvi Leon • Reporter of the local journalistic initiative
Publication date: Aug 08, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 3 min read • 6 comments Ron Rudder died on August 1, days after attending his funeral, which his family described as a ‘celebration of life’. Photo from Submitted photo

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Shortly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Ron Rudder turned to his children with a smile and said, “I’m going to have a party.”

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The 67-year-old, from Exeter, was diagnosed at the end of May. But when he went to his appointment on June 16, the doctor told him the cancer had spread. “Then the surgeon said it’s inoperable, it was palliative,” said his daughter, Jenna McBride. Even so, as the prognosis shocked his family, Rayder knew what he wanted to do next. He told them: “If there is going to be a funeral and people come, I want to be there. I don’t want to lose that,’” he recalls. The decision did not come as a surprise. “We were all like, ‘Yeah. That’s pretty much my dad,” McBride said. “He always liked to get off the beaten path and do things differently.” And he did. On July 23, Rayder fulfilled one of his last wishes by attending his funeral, which he and his family described as a “celebration of life.”

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More than 350 people turned up at the event at his Exeter home, from friends and extended family to customers he met during his 40-plus years as a car salesman. Even his old hockey team from Zurich, where he grew up, showed up in their jerseys. “The whole day was amazing,” said Shirley Rader, his wife of 44 years. “Were we tired and emotionally drained? Absolutely. But it was just the best day.” Rudder died peacefully last Monday, August 1, at home surrounded by his family, nine days after the commemoration. Ron Rudder died on August 1, days after attending his funeral, which his family described as a “celebration of life”. Ruder grew up in Zurich, a rural community near Lake Huron, before moving with his wife to Exeter, where many in the city north of London had gotten to know him over the years. “Ron was like a brother to me. We knew each other for 40 years,” Rick Frayne said. The pair worked together at the Toyota dealership in Exeter and others before that.

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He said the two shared the same passions for drag racing and cars. “We loved the product we were selling. Especially when you’re selling vehicles to a local community, those are your friends.” Rader was a hard worker who made a lasting impression on everyone he met, including Colin Haskett, a funeral director in the London area he had known for many years. It was late June when Haskett, director of Haskett’s Funeral Homes, was given the unexpected task of helping Rader check one last item off his bucket list. Rader had initially contacted Haskett by phone, telling him: “I have something I want to take care of with you.” What he didn’t expect, however, was that he had planned to attend his own celebration, or what some might call “a live funeral.”

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“This is a first for us in 140 years,” Haskett said. “Doing what we do for a living, this is the first time we’ve ever been able to help with something like this.” Reflecting on what the celebration meant to Rander, Haskett said he was grateful his team could play a part. “I feel so honored. To get our hands on it and then spend the time to go over it with him and get it done and for him to be so happy with his decision, that was the most rewarding thing.” A salesman, motorcycle enthusiast, hockey player, friend, grandfather, father-in-law and dad, Rader was a positive person who “was happy, all the time,” said his son, Ben. After the final farewell at the celebration of his life, there was one last thing Rander had wished for. He wanted to go to the beach – near his niece and nephew’s property along Lake Huron. So on July 29, one of his last days, they went. “We gathered (with) friends and family. . . and spent a couple of hours there, touring the campground and just sitting on the beach,” said McBride, his daughter. “After that, it was almost like he knew he had done it all.” [email protected] twitter.com/CalviatLFPress The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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