- Date Of Birth: January 28, 1931
- Date Of Death: August 16, 2009
- State: Indiana
He passed away at 5:42 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009, at Indiana Veterans’ Home in West Lafayette.
Born Jan. 28, 1931, in Logansport, he was the son of Nazerino and Adeline Macora Baldini.
Rudy was a 1949 graduate of Logansport High School. In 1951, while serving in the United States Army in Iceland during the Korean War, Rudy was struck on his head by a large swinging cargo net. After the accident, he was in Walter Reed Hospital for several weeks near death. He recovered and was returned to active duty and was later honorably discharged. This injury was later proven to be the cause of the disabilities which hindered his life. He finally received his full veteran pension, and lived happily in the Soldiers Home in West Lafayette since 2002.
Following the war, he had been employed for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and as a bartender for his brother, Gondy, at Baldini’s Tavern.
When Rudy was 10 years old, he was the 1941 Champion of the first Soap Box Derby in Logansport.
Surviving are son, Lenny Baldini, Gainesville, Fla.; daughter, Rhonda (Mike) Kovatch, Las Vegas; sister, Laura Cooper, Sun City, Fla.; one granddaughter; nephews, Don and Jerry Baldini, Logansport; as well as many other nieces and nephews.
Rudy was preceded in death by brothers, Roy Baldini, Gordon ‘Gondy’ Baldini, Lindo Baldini, and Edmund Baldini.
