John was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1951. He was the third of nine children born into the family of Ova and Elizabeth Rudd. He spent the majority of his years growing up in Marion, Ohio, where he played on several youth sports teams, the highlight being on a Little League team which won the district championship.
In his sophomore year of high school, he relocated to the Dayton area with his family and began attending Stivers High School. Although he left behind many good friends and teammates, he quickly found a home on the Stivers football team and was very impressed with the coaching staff, especially Mr. Dick Landis. John went on to earn three varsity letters in football, playing both fullback and linebacker. He was Co-Captain his senior year and was named to the Dayton All-City Second Team.
John’s first love in sports was always baseball and he again found a place to fit in and excel on the Stivers’ baseball team. He was named Captain in his junior year and this was also the year he pitched a no-hitter against Roth High School. His favorite pitch was the fastball, and he could really bring the heat. John lettered all three years in baseball and was named to the Dayton All-City Second Team his senior year.
Following high school, John worked in the food industry at both Moler’s Dairy and Royal Crest Dairy and was a supervisor with Sysco Foods, Sharonville, Ohio, where he retired with 30 years of service. Even though he worked long hours and often had to get up at 3 a.m., he always found time to coach his son’s youth football and baseball
teams as well as his daughter’s softball team.
John has been married for forty-nine years to his high school sweetheart, Patty Violette (Stivers Class of 1970). They have lived in Englewood, Ohio, for the past forty- four years where they raised their two children, Daren and Holly.
Today John’s proudest moments are with his four grandchildren, Kendall, Kinsey, Owen and Nolan as they make their mark in sports and life. He will always be thankful that he was blessed with a good and strong family life.