Michael O. Sauve "Mike" Rudd

RUDD | Michael "Mike" O. Sauve, 71, of Rudd, Iowa, died Thursday, November 19, 2015, at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa.

Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, November 24, 2015, at Epiphany Parish, Holy Family Catholic Church, 722 N. Adams, Mason City. Officiating will be the Rev. John Gossman.

Visitation will be from 4 until 8 p.m. Monday at Fullerton Funeral Home, 123 2nd St. SE, Mason City. Following visitation Michael will be cremated.

Online condolences may be left at www.fullertonfh.com.

Michael O. Sauve was born on November 16, 1944, in Crookston, Minnesota, the son of Oscar and Palmire Sauve. He graduated from Lafayette High School in Red Lake Falls in 1962, and then continued his education to become a Journeyman Lineman. He started his career with the Iowa Public Service and then focused on power line construction with Donovan Construction then L.E. Myers Power Line Construction. Mike then became the business manager for Local 55 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for several years. Later he worked for Midland Construction as a field engineer, and then started his own company with his wife, Distribution Contractors, where he focused on electrical engineering until 2002. Following that he went to work for Power Plus Engineering out of La Crosse, Wisconsin, which was later acquired by STAR Energy Services LLC out of Alexandria, Minnesota. He retired in 2012.

Going out on a double blind date he met Kathleen E. Cunningham and he and Kathy were later united in marriage on May 29, 1965, at Holy Family Catholic Church in Mason City, Iowa. They lived in a few places but called Rudd their home and where they raised their three children.

Mike was known as a warm and funny guy, spending much of his time off with family and friends. He loved being helpful and making people laugh.

His favorite hobby was building furniture which ended up furnishing most of his kids' and grandkids' houses. He was a smart guy and could figure out many problems that others could not. He often had a vegetable garden which he shared the fruits of his labor through canning, freezing and gifting.

He was a member of the former Mason City Elks Lodge and served as a past president of the Rudd Lions Club. In his youth he played hockey in high school, and continued enjoying the sport watching the Minnesota Wild, and was a fan of the Vikings.

Those thankful in sharing Mike's life include his wife Kathy of 50 years; three children, Carla Sauve, Nora Springs, Sheila and her husband Joel Schwarz, Chaska, MN, Francis "Fritz" Sauve, Rudd; eight grandchildren, Ryan Hocken, Mariah Payne, Isaac Schwarz, the twins Nathan and Evan Schwarz, Julianna, Hannah and Kaden Sauve; his favorite great-granddaughter Aubrey Hocken; a great-grand on the way; his two sisters Lorraine Schmidt-Brown, Red Lake Falls, MN, Mary Jane Kellenberger, Cloquet, MN; two brothers, Jimmy (Elizabeth) Sauve and Jerry (Marlene) Sauve; almost 50 nieces and nephews and a host of friends.

His parents; one sister Agnes Lambert; and nine brothers, Alfred, Delphis, Edmund, Eli, George, Harvey, Omer, Robert, William; and twin sisters preceded him in death.

Fullerton Funeral Home, 123 2nd St. SE, Mason City, IA 50401, 641-423-8676, www.Fullertonfh.com.

Fullerton Funeral Home Logo

msc