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GREENWICH, Conn. John Rudy Ridberg, a former Greenwich resident and father of former Greenwich Police Chief David Ridberg, has died.
Ridberg was born in New York City in 1916 and moved with his family to Greenwich in 1923. He graduated from Greenwich High School and was employed by the Connecticut Light & Power Company until he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942. He served as a radio/telephone operator in the South Pacific during World War II and received a medical discharge in 1945.
Ridberg was active in school baseball and basketball and was a semi-pro baseball player after his discharge. He was the recipient of the Greenwich Old Timers' Athletic Award in 1990. He was employed as an electrical technician for many years and retired in 1981 as owner of JR Electrical Service.
Ridberg was active in St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church for 60 years, seeing it move from Byram to Rye Brook. He served as superintendent of Sunday School, secretary and president of the Church Council, president of the Lutheran Brotherhood and lead singer in the choir before moving to Florida, where he continued his service as a choir member and tenor soloist for another 12 years.
He was a loyal member of the Byram Rotary and served as president in 1976. He also received the Paul Harris Fellow award for Humanitarian Assistance and had a perfect attendance record for 29 years. Rudy moved to Dunnellon, Fla., in 1992 and then to Leesburg, Fla., in 2001.
Ridberg is survived by his wife of 65 years, Evelyn Marie Victor; four sons, Jeffrey and wife, Helen, Donald, Rudy and wife, Claudia, and David and wife, Amanda; five grandchildren and a great-grandson.
A memorial service will be held in Leesburg, Fla., on Thursday, Nov. 3. A memorial service will be held at a later date at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Comly Avenue, in Rye Brook, N.Y., and his cremated remains will be interred in Fairfield Memorial Park in Stamford.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church or to a local Hospice.
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