The Tale of Carroll Rudy

Carroll Rudy lives in a place so remote even the rivers get lost. McCauley, West Virginia is just southeast of where the Lost River flows underground only later to emerge with its name changed to the Capon River. Last year McCauley had an estimated population of 3. It’s as remote as it is beautiful, but if you want to fish the river, you’d better be friends with Carroll before you go as he routinely “patrols” the riverside for trespassers.

Born in a house at Baughman Settlement, which is another similar sized town less than 3 miles from McCauley, Carroll has been everywhere and done about everything a person could do growing up in Hardy County.

“A lot of this is going to be hard to believe but it’s fact.” Carroll says about all the places he worked and lived.

One of his first jobs (while he was still in primary school) was raising over one hundred chickens all on his own. He was up every day before sunrise, and back again in the evening to take care of them and make sure they were fed and healthy. He wasn’t paid for it, he did as a way to help his parents out. During his teenager years he put many miles on his bicycle by delivering both household items for Blair Products, and by selling copies of Grit magazine. Not that he wasn’t busy enough doing that, he would also be up before dawn, but this time instead of raising chickens, he was employed to catch them. Catch them by the truckload that is,

“We got paid four dollars a load, didn’t make a damn whether it was a trailer load or truck load, we got paid the same.”

After catching them by hand and loading them, he would ride with the driver as they delivered to places like Franklin, WV or Harrisionburg, VA. He would even go on the long trips up to New York so he could see new places and because the driver would let him drive the truck. Depending on how far away the delivery was, he would either be dropped off at home or close enough that he could walk to school.

A week after graduating from high school, the country was in a recession and Carroll volunteered for the draft.

“Jobs were hard to come by and if you didn’t have the military behind you, forget about it.”

The local handyman stops to discuss a house project.

After his time in the service, he lived everywhere from Cumberland and Keyser to Winchester and Hagerstown. He worked several different jobs, starting off in a shoe center, then onto a cabinet factory in Moorefield. He worked next with Montgomery Wards and then for a short time he was at the Allegheny Ballistic Laboratory near Short Gap, WV. He eventually found a career with Potomac Edison, where he worked for thirty-six years before retiring to his hometown Of McCauley.

“I said you better have a lot of paper if you want to know my story!” Laughed Carroll.

One of his favorite pastimes is to travel nearly an hour and a half to watch horse racing at the race track in Charles Town, WV. Not much of a big gambler, he says,

“Just making small bets that could win big.”

Carroll also used the opportunity to stretch his spending dollars at the local Save-a-Lot. Often working the register was Catherine Painter, who said he was a regular customer, but started spending more time talking with her and less time shopping for the essential items he may need.

“She was the main item!” Carroll exclaimed as Catherine told the story of them meeting.

Eventually he gave her his number and asked her to give him a call sometime. Looking at the number every so often, with no intention of making the call, Catherine said one day she didn’t know what came over her, but she called his number and the rest is history.

Now with a population of 4, McCauley is a bustling center of activity and Carroll has it all mapped out,

“At quarter ‘til 12, if it’s in the 60’s I take a two-mile walk, if it’s in the 70’s I mow.” He stated.

Catherine quickly added, “If I don’t sunbathe, he won’t mow!” They both erupted in laughter as Carroll made no attempt to correct her.

Corridor H bridge named in honor of Carroll’s parents

Traveling the area brings them both joy as they attend many dinners, functions, fairs and festivals.

“We were planning on going to the state fair, but they stopped putting out brochures to let you know what’s going on, so we just go to the local ones.”

They live comfortably in his family homestead which sits almost directly under a bridge that is part of the Corridor H system. His parents ran “Rudy’s Grocery” for over 55 years out of it, and it was one of the few places to shop for your essentials for miles in any direction. Carroll said there was a lot of fuss and mess during construction of the behemoth sized bridge, which has been memorialized in his parents John and Freda’s honor. Now complete, the road in front of his house is less traveled than before and as he says it’s, “Much more peaceful because of it.”

You can easily imagine an energetic and active young Carroll Rudy running around Hardy County through his attention to detail in storytelling, and the ever-present light in his eyes as he speaks. There is a sense of gratitude for the life he’s lived, and an expectation for fun and laughter in the days to come. They may have broken the mold when Carroll was made, but I wish they hadn’t, we could use a few more people like him.

A fishing spot so fine it wound up on the phone book