Mildred Rudnick

Rudnick, Mildred
July 5, 1918 - January 3, 2010
Mildred (Millie) Rudnick was born in Denver Colorado, the only child of Rubin and Rose Karasik. She moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA as a Bacteriology major. At UCLA, she met, Isadore (Izzy) Rudnick, a Physics student. They married in 1939; in 1948 Izzy took a faculty position at UCLA in the Physics Department which he held until his retirement in 1987. Millie and Izzy were intensely involved in the social life of the department; parties at their house and the warmth of their hospitality are fondly remembered by family, friends, colleagues and former students. They delighted in the extensive travel that his career demanded. Millie's predominant passion was her family, and her highest priority was to make a good life for her husband and five children in the home in Brentwood in which they lived for nearly fifty years. After her oldest child departed for college, she completed her BA at UCLA and Masters in Education at CSUN. Millie was a lover of animals, a voracious and omnivorous reader, a devotee of word puzzles, an avid bridge player and a skilled and prolific knitter. She was a docent at the LA Zoo for over 20 years, leading tours and lecturing to visitors of all ages. Millie and a group of friends, who called themselves the Catharsis Club, met regularly for bridge and conversation. Millie loved to go fishing in the Santa Monica bay: from a pier, on party boats and later on the 19-foot-long family runabout. Highly susceptible to seasickness, she cheerfully endured the consequences in order to put her hook in the water. Millie enriched many lives. She is much loved and greatly missed.

Millie is survived by her five children, Joseph (Alice), Charles (Carmen), Deborah (Carl), Michael (Helen) and Daniel (Janice), by 17 grandchildren and one great grandchild.