Name: Visitation for Rudolph Ernest Mancke III
Start: 2023-11-17T18:00:00.000Z
End: 2023-11-17T20:00:00.000Z
Location: Mcalister Smith - State St.

Rudolph Ernest Mancke III

November 7, 2023

Cayce, South Carolina - Rudolph Ernest Mancke, III., 78, of Cayce, South Carolina passed away on November 7, 2023. Born on October 21, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia, he was the son of Rudolph Ernest Mancke, Jr. and Lera Mixson Mancke. He attended Spartanburg High School and earned a BS from Wofford College. After his time in the army, he taught biology and geology at Spartanburg High School. He and his family moved to Columbia in 1975 where he was the Curator of Natural History of the South Carolina State Museum. In 1978, Rudy first appeared as the naturalist on the SCETV show NatureScene. That program ran for 25 years and is available around the world. Rudy recently worked as Naturalist in Residence at the University of South Carolina, and hosted "NatureNotes" on SC Public Radio. He immensely enjoyed being able to share the natural world with others and was an integral part of the education of students in SC schools. He loved his family. Rudy is survived by his wife of 53 years, Ellen Talbert Mancke; his children, Will Mancke (Lauren) and Mandy Sherer (Jon), five grandchildren, Eli and Lily Sherer, Fox, Lera and Marigold Mancke; his siblings, Cathy Tisdale (Norman), Jim Mancke, and Tom Mancke (Jennifer). Visitation will be held on Friday, November 17, 2023, from 6:00-8:00pm at McAlister-Smith Funeral Home, 200 State Street, West Columbia. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at 11:00am at Trinity Baptist Church, 2003 Charleston Hwy, Cayce. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the building fund at State Street Baptist Church, 1420 State Street, Cayce or to the ETV Endowment of South Carolina, 401 Kennedy Street, Suite B-1, Spartanburg, SC 29302. Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at mcalister-smith.com.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The State on Nov. 16, 2023.

Memories and Condolences
for Rudolph Mancke

17 Entries

Will Bradley

January 19, 2025

I was wandering in the woods of Florence SC at age 12 and wondered if there was a nature program. I was blessed enough to find Naturescene. I called Rudy during a fundraiser for ETV and talked about how I was teased by classmates for watching him. He told me to be myself and pursue my dreams. I was not smart enough to be a naturalist but I look out of the window of the Boeing 737 I fly for an airline often remembering Rudy as I look at the vast nature below. God Bless you Rudy for the happiness you brought us in furtherance of his kingdom.

David Morris

November 8, 2024

When I see something outside that I have a question about, I still catch myself saying "Rudy would know the answer. I'll ask him the next time I see him." I will probably always think that.

McDonald Law

December 12, 2023

Never forget signing up for one of his tours through Congaree Swamp on a Saturday morning several years ago. Drove to Columbia that morning just as the rains began to set in. Not knowing whether to turn back or continue on, we pulled into the parking in a light rain. A few others showed up, most of us from enough distance to want to continue the drive, not knowing whether we´d actually get to walk through the woods that rainy morning. Right on time Rudy showed up, put on his rain jacket and walked us through a misty rain to pointing out the various features of this true rain forest we had come miles to see. Rudy made sure it didn´t disappoint us!

David C. Morris

Planted Trees

David C. Morris

November 21, 2023

I have known Rudy since around 1979 through SCAN, going on several nature trips and learning so much from him (and Tom). I already knew a bit about birds, insects, and plants, but I had never heard such interesting stories and explanations. Rudy seemed to know how all of nature worked, and conveyed true wonder. He made us feel as if we were in his shoes. I am so glad my daughter Annah was able to meet him and attend two of the events at the S.C. Railroad Museum. Rudy is a person I had thought would always be there - the encyclopedia and cheerleader of the natural world. The nicest and smartest guy you could meet. I feel deep and lasting sadness at his passing.

Rusty & Patty Bickford

November 19, 2023

Moved to the Midlands from Texas in 2015 and truly got to know and love the area by watching Rudy Mancke on ETV. He made everything interesting

Elizabeth Duncan

November 18, 2023

NatureScene was a gift to a friend of mine. He lost his vision as an adult and missed watching television. NatureScene was the only show he could really enjoy. That says something really special about Mr. Mancke's gift of communication. He touched lives of people he never knew.

Steve Lefler

November 17, 2023

So sorry for your loss. Rudy was a very exceptional person.

Ruth Ann

November 17, 2023

He touched so many lives - plant, animal and human alike - showing us our oneness

Ted Waddell

November 16, 2023

I met Rudy at Camp McCall RA Camp in Sunset, SC in 1965. I was a camper and he was "the nature study guy". He loved snakes and had a favorite Hog-Nozed snake. I attended the camp 65-67. In 1968, I got a call from him asking if I would like to accompany him for a month doing a survey of snakes in the mountains of SC. Of course, I was delighted to go along. We had quite an adventure to say the least. He was exactly like he appeared on Nature Scene. He knew the Latin name of everything we encountered. Me being 9 yrs. his junior, he used to say to me "Dream on, little broomstick cowboy" when I would say something stupid, as I apparently often did. We caught and brought back 113 live snakes to Columbia. He also caught what was then at least, the largest boxturtle ever found in SC. It was how he found it was the classic Rudy. He "heard" it walking. To say he will be missed isn't enough. The world will not be the same without him in it.

Emily Susan McFaddin

November 16, 2023

Rudy Mancke will always be South Carolina´s most genuine natural resource. Will truly be missed.

Karen Beshears, former director of SEWEE Association in Awendaw

November 15, 2023

To Ellen and Rudy's family, Thanks for allowing Rudy to share his knowledge and enthusiasm all over South Carolina. He was a major help to Cape Romain NWR and a fledgling friends group, SEWEE Association, for many years. He led tours of Bulls Island as a fund-raiser for SEWEE, which sold-out immediately and had a waiting list, and allowed us to use the knowledge we gained to teach students all along the coast about what an incredible place we live in and how we need to conserve it. We always joked that if we didn't urge him on, he could spend an hour in a gravel parking lot and not stop educating people. I have many stories, but I will share the one that has always stuck with me.
We were with the tour participants on a dike on Bulls Island and Rudy was keeping everyone intrigued as he talked about the plants and birds and butterflies we were seeing. Suddenly he whipped his butterfly net onto a bush to his side and came up with a pair of praying mantis (I still don't know how he saw them). What was most amazing was they had just finished mating, and as the male's purpose was complete, the female was eating him. Everyone's mouth dropped as they saw this phenomena, and Rudy kept on talking about "recycling"!
I hope you hear many more of these wonderful stories as you deal with your loss, so that hopefully a smile will creep in.
He is sorely missed by the naturalist community, but his legacy will live on through all the people he touched and inspired.

Cathy Mancke Tisdale

November 15, 2023

Fran, I haven't heard the word "hootenanny" in a very long time, but it does bring back great memories of you and your mom and First Baptist Church Spartanburg. Thank you for thinking of us.
Cathy

Cathy Mancke TIsdale

November 15, 2023

David, Thank you for this wonderful memory of our brother. It is so heart-warming to hear stories of the past from people Rudy cared so much about.
We miss him terribly but celebrate the fact that he is no longer suffering. He is now in the arms of his Heavenly Father. Cathy Mancke Tisdale

Fran Bagwell

November 14, 2023

I knew Rudy and Ellen at First Baptist in Spartanburg. I had a hootenanny for my 13th birthday. Rudy, Ellen, and Mike Nantz came and entertained the guests who attended. It was fabulous!! My mother - Ila Bagwell - fixed spaghetti for everyone who attended including Hannah Nantz. What wonderful memories!!

My deepest sympathy to Ellen, Cathy, Jimmy, Tommy and the rest of the Mancke family.

DAVID E SCOTT

November 14, 2023

I grew up in Spartanburg, and (like Rudy) attended SHS and Wofford. Rudy was 10 yrs my senior. He came to teach at SHS (I think) in 1972, when I was a junior. Although he was never my classroom instructor, he was one of a very small number of cherished science mentors, who ultimately guided me on my path to be an ecologist. There were 3-4 of us teens who he (and, most graciously, Ellen) befriended, tolerated, and taught. He told us of some of his special natural areas in SC. He took us to some of those places. Rudy and Ellen opened their Spartanburg home to us, perhaps in part because we all shared the same passion for the natural world (or because as 16-yr olds we didn't know about "boundaries.") Through Rudy I met one of his brothers, Tom, who is also a gifted naturalist, historian, and story-teller. They acquainted me with the legacy of natural historians and writers: Bartram, Leopold, Eiseley. The entire Mancke experience was transformative for my personal and professional life.

I have lots of stories that I will reserve for future conversations with Ellen and Tom. But, to end on a light-hearted note here. I don't know if any of the folks out there have ever played TV-related "drinking games"--I had a group of friends who loved the "Wizard of Oz," and someone had the idea of taking a shot whenever "follow the yellow-brick road" was said. Well, we did the same to Nature Scene. Yes, we were debauched by Nature Scene. Whenever Rudy said "[this organism] is 'doing well here'" we drank. Thank goodness we had the sense not to drink to "recycled."

I will always love Rudy and Ellen, and all they did for kids like me. All Rudy did for educating kids from 8 to 80. Rudy had a trained, hard-worked-for "gift" for infecting us all with his knowledge and passion for our local natural world. I hope we are still in a world that might listen to his teachings.

The Staff of Thompson Funeral Home

November 15, 2023

Offering our deepest sympathies during this time.

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