Dr. Rudd Thabes - Suzanne Ribbel Scholarship

Dr. Rudd Badeaux Thabes passed away in Detroit Lakes, Minn., Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018, at the age of 77.
Rudd was born in Brainerd, Minn., March 27, 1941.
He is preceded in death by father Dr. John Alois Thabes Jr., mother Nordica Christofa (Kjesterud) Thabes, half-brother John “Jock” Thabes, and wife Lois Caroline (Johnson) Thabes.
He is survived by daughter Marte Christofa Thabes Kitson, son John Charles Badeaux Thabes, and sister Tamara Thabes Mitchell and Fiance Suzanne Ribbel Framers.
Rudd graduated from Washington High School in Brainerd in 1959 and from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1964. He married Lois Caroline Johnson Dec. 27, 1964. Rudd attended flight school at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., and was then stationed in Adak, Alaska, at the United States Naval Station from December 1965 until March 1969. There, he was a lieutenant, search and rescue (SAR) officer, helicopter pilot, and the wildlife conservation officer for the naval base.
Rudd was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. On Feb. 3, 1969, he piloted a single engine helicopter while rescuing 24 people from a Japanese fishing vessel that was grounded near the Rat Islands in Alaska.
Upon completion of his service in the Navy, he worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game until he was accepted into medical school.
Rudd attended the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and became a doctor in 1976. He moved to the Bagley area in 1977 and began his practice as a family doctor at the Clearwater Clinic. He remained there for 33 years and retired in 2011. For many of these years, he owned the practice.
Rudd also served as the medical director for Greensview Nursing Home and as Clearwater County coroner. Rudd was known in the community as a benevolent and common sense doctor. He spent his retirement years living on Leech Lake in Walker, Minn., with his fiancée, Suzanne Ribbel Frambers.
Throughout his life, Rudd enjoyed hunting, fishing, boating, teaching, and serving his country and community.