dr med. Rudolf (Ruda) George Roden

RODEN, Rudolph George (Ruda)
MD, PhD
Died on Tuesday, February 24 at the age of 91. He is survived by Eva his wife of 72 years, children Dan (Maisie), Peter (Judy Stillman), and Misha (Scott Peterson), grandchildren Mark, Paul, Claire, Daniela, Noah, and Sasha, and great-grandchildren Thomas, Ayla, and Dianna. Ruda survived a brutal wartime, had diverse careers, and was a trusted friend, counsellor, and physician to many. He was born in Prague in August 1923, grew up a passionate hockey player, and was a goalie for the Czech junior team in 1930s. In the late 1930s, European turmoil almost sent him to Palestine, but he stayed in Prague with his wife to be. He was incarcerated at the Terezin, Auschwitz, and Sachsenhausen concentration camps, lost most of his family to the death camps, and survived a death march in spring 1945. After liberation, he crossed Europe to retrieve Eva at the Bergen- Belsen camp, and they returned to Prague with his father-in-law Marek. He went to medical school in Prague and in his last year, fate again intervened: with the election of a totalitarian government, Ruda, Eva, and Marek moved to Montreal. Ruda spent two years searching for a spot in medical school and was finally accepted at Queen's University in Kingston, where he repeated the entire curriculum, graduating with honours in 1955. Over the next 15 years, he ran a solo general practice in Montreal, doing surgery, running a busy office, taking his own x-rays and doing his own lab work, and delivering over 2,000 babies. In the 1970s, he trained as a psychoanalyst and was appointed Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 1976. In 1987, he returned to Montreal where he continued his psychotherapy practice until his retirement three years ago. He was a support to many. Medicine was but one of his talents. He was an avid water-skier. He would not hesitate to drag a chain saw up a tree to trim branches that blocked his view at their Eastern Townships retreat. Mushrooming was a passion. He and Eva went to graduate school in the Department of Slavic Languages at the University of Montreal, where he received his PhD for studies of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot. He and Eva published their wartime memoir, Lives on Borrowed Time, in the 1970s, and Ruda took up writing as a full-time avocation in his 80s. He published 6 further collections of both fiction and reminiscences in Czech and in English, and was highly celebrated particularly in Prague in this his last career. Funeral service from Paperman & Sons, 3888 Jean Talon St. W., on Friday, February 27 at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the charity of your choice.

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Published in Monteal Gazette from Feb. 26 to Feb. 27, 2015.

https://iwitness.usc.edu/testimony/21786