Rudy was far from a wealthy man. He was, however, thrifty. He never spent more than a few thousand for a car (typically no more than several hundred), bought only used parts, and haggled for most of what he owned at yard sales. Until he met my mom, he never bought anything new with which to furnish his home.

Rudy's thriftiness enabled him live without too many restrictions and to save money. He used this money to help out friends more than anything else.

Back in the sixties, Rudy was visiting his friend Jack. He noticed that Jack was very tense and worried. He was sweating a lot and wiping his hands incessantly on his pants, in an effort to dry his palms. Rudy asked Jack what was wrong but Jack refused to answer. Rudy pressed the matter, though, and finally Jack told him. "I think I'm going to have to close my restaurant. I don't have enough money to keep it going and I've already mortgaged everything else I own."

Such news greatly alarmed Rudy. He and Jack had met while both worked as cooks at The Drake Hotel in Chicago. He knew Jack's dream was to own a restaurant and he was very happy for Jack when he opened his new restaurant only a few years ago.

"How much do you need? I got a safe deposit box near here."

"Oh, Rudy, I couldn't take anything."

Again, Rudy pressed. "Well, $10,000."

"I got that."

Rudy left and returned an hour later with $10,000. "Pay me back whenever you can."

Jack paid Rudy back a year later. His restaurant is alive and well today, doing very well. It has become a family business to pass down through the generations. And Jack knows he owes it all to Rudy. Without Rudy's loan, the restaurant would have closed in the 60's, before anyone even knew it existed.

"Rudy gave me my dream. He was quite a guy," remembers Jack. Yes, he was quite a guy, indeed.