Rudy Kara was a marine in the Korean War. He enlisted under age at the end of WWII in hopes to assist his country in that war. Rudy was the only child of an immigrant couple from Czechoslovakia. His first marriage failed. He had one child, Michael, in that marriage. Rudy worked hard as a cook and then later owned a pool hall. Years later he met Susan Coburn and spent the remainder of his years in her company. Rudy died on Sep. 17, 2007, at age 79. He is remembered as a thoughtful, helpful, and extremely personable guy, who had some interesting quirks, like being a pack rat. (You can see photos of a few of the things he collected under "The Story" on the menu bar.)

Susan Coburn was married to my father, Donald Coburn, for less than ten years. She had three children in the marriage, two girls and one boy (me!). She is always thoughtful of others and makes a considerable effort to help those less fortunate than she. She raised her three children by herself after leaving my father, on very tight purse strings. My father abducted me for almost a year before my mom was able to get me back with the help of PI Ernie Rizzo (not well known at the time). She was instrumental in getting abduction laws in Illinois changed and enforced. She also worked hard for women's rights in divorce and is a key reason those laws were changed and enforced.

Rudy and Susan met and made a great match. They complimented each other very well and were together for 21 years before his death. Susan hopes to continue to travel, as she and Rudy traveled a lot. She wants to visit some places they planned to visit together in his memory. She also wishes to remain in their house, where the grandkids visit often. Without her inheritance (apparently stolen by Walter Mahaffay), she can barely afford to survive, let alone remain in her house or travel.

Susan spends most of her time these days in mourning and knitting sweaters for refugee children, which she delivers to them via Guidepost, a popular religious magazine. All book sales go to her in hopes she will be able to live out the remainder of her life in the manner she deserves.