Rowland William Tudor Obituary (1928

Rowland W. Tudor, 91 of Monroe Township died Thursday November 7th at his home. Born in Cranford, NJ, Mr. Tudor lived there until moving to the Rossmoor community in Monroe Township in 2002. He was employed for most of his career as an insurance salesman / financial advisor. He later was employed as the business manager for 15 years by Joseph and Gloria Dawley at their art studio, Cranford, retiring in 2005. During the Korean War, Mr. Tudor was in the CIA while serving in the US Army. He attained the rank of corporal. Mr. Tudor was a graduate of Cranford HS, class of 1946, Union Junior College in 1958 and Rutgers University in 1962. He played Hockey and baseball at Cranford HS. He coached and managed in the Cranford Bays Baseball League, played for the Warinanco Over-the-Hill Hockey Club and the Cranford Softball League. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Crawford Swin Club. His biggest claim to fame was that he rode on the Orient Express. He composed his own obituary as follows: "I grew up in the 30's and 40's in a quaint little town called Cranford in New Jersey on the Rahway River. I was blessed with two wonderful parents who led by example but were never overbearing. My brother Warren was 6 years older and became my hero when he left high school to join the Navy and do his part in bringing Hitler down. While he was still in school he would drag me along (at mom's insistence) to play in games with his friends - it was a great opportunity for me to play against those who were much bigger, faster, stronger and smarter that me. By the time I reached high school I was able to compete with my classmates. My classmates included about 15 to 20 African Americans each year and to my knowledge none were ever looked down on or belittled. One of my closest buddies was a 6 foot 4, 240 pound all-state football player named Tom Muldrow - an African American. We loved each other - I call him "Moe" and he called me "inch." He was "Moe and I was inch" - no racism in sight! My favorite sport was ice hockey - by far ( I was fortunate enough to play until I was 50.) In my senior year the head of the Union County coaches told me he thought I was the best player in the county. I knew I had scored a lot of goals and we won a lot of games but never dreamed individual players were being compared to me, a 5 foot 5, 150 lb. runt. The thought that I could excel at ANYTHING was a huge boost. The next memorable moment in my life occurred while I was in basic training at Fort Dix, NJ. A dozen of us were sent to the day room one evening to meet with several officers from Washington. The captain who interviewed me was from an outfit that could, if I joined them, guarantee that I wouldn't end up a 2nd lieutenant in North Korea = highest casualty rate of all GIs. He hit a home run in my book and I jumped at the chance. A month later, after basic, I was transported to Washington D.C. and introduced to a number of my fellow CIA employees. It was the beginning of two of the most fascinating years of my life. The first six months of my time in DC spent training other newcomers with a particular goal of getting them ready for the dreaded polygraph (lie detector test) - which wasn't all that terrifying. The last six months I spent in the pentagon learning the ins and outs of the program designed to send indigents behind the iron curtain with the slim chance we would ever see them again much less be the receptors of any valuable information. I was then sent to Frankfort, Germany, where I worked with a half dozen Ranger Airborne training our future "jumpees" in the care and use of foreign handguns and basic survival skills. It was there that I met some very interesting former WW II OSS operatives who had some wild tales about their OSS days - some probably at least partially true. Shortly after leaving the CIA, I met my first wife on a blind date. She was queen of her class and married me! As Casey Stengel would say, "go figger." We adopted two children who were neither lawyers or judges but were there when we needed them - a good step ahead of a lot of PHDs. It was while we were enjoying the Cranford Swim Club, playing platform tennis, that I met a wonderful gentleman who would have a profound influence on the rest of my life. His name was Joe Dawley - Gigi's husband and an absolute genius with oil pain and a brush. We hit it off from the start and soon I was sitting in his living room selling him insurance - while marveling at the magnificent works of art on the walls. The Dawleys and Tudors became close friends and remained so until Carol lost her battle with emphysema at the age of 66 and Joe lost his long, long struggle with Parkinson's. I had become business manager which proved to be the best job known to mankind. He was generous, up beat, fun and of course a very successful artist. It was fascinating to watch him, in a matter of days, turn a blank canvass into a masterpiece that would command $40 to $50,000! I helped Joe deliver the two official St. Elizabeth Ann Seton portraits to St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York and the Clinton's favorite painting to the White House. Thanks again Joe. When Carol passed away in 1999, Joe asked me to come live with he and Gigi to help her with his advancing dementia. When he had to be institutionalized, Gigi and I moved to Rossmoor - a move we will never regret. How can you not love the place that taught you "Pickleball?" We've made to many wonderful friends here. When Joe passed away, Gigi and I were married in a quaint little gazebo on Long Beach Island - a perfect setting! So I am the first of my wonderful family and friends wot reach the point where I, a least, realize for the first time the true beauty and magnificence of His Greatest Gift - the gift of Death, Resurrection, and Eternal Life. He tells us in His teachings that despite all our transgressions and wayside stumbled, Hig love is far greater that our sins and He waits to walk hand in hand with us through the Shadow of Death. Dear Lord, your Love and Generosity is beyond our understanding. I await Your Hand!" Mr. Tudor was predeceased by his first wife Carol Lovett Tudor in 1999 and his brother Warren. Surviving are his wife of 10 years Gloria Gobble Dawley, his daughter Elizabeth Buccine of Milford, PA, his son Robert of East Stroudsburg, PA, his stepdaughters Cynthia Dawley-Gallagher of Cranford, NJ and Catherine Harding of Cranbury, NJ, eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. A memorial service for Mr. Tudor will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday November 16th at the Rossmoor Meeting House in the Rossmoor community in Monroe Township. Memorial contributions in the name of Mr. Tudor may be made to the Salvation Army at www.satruck.org.