Albert “Bud” Rust, age 94, of Luverne, Minnesota, died peacefully on Wednesday, May 29, 2024, at his home.
Visitation was Sunday, June 2, from 4-7 p. m. at Hartquist Funeral Home in Luverne. Funeral service was Monday, June 3, at 10:30 a.m., with visitation one hour prior, at First Presbyterian Church in Luverne, Minnesota. Food and fellowship followed the service. Burial with military honors followed at 1:30 p.m. at Grand Prairie Cemetery in rural Ellsworth, Minnesota.
Arrangements are under the care of Hartquist Funeral Home in Luverne. To sign an online registry, please visit www.hartquistfuneral.com
Albert “Bud” Arthur Rust was born on December 26, 1929, to Arthur and Grayce (Little) Rust on the family farm between Magnolia and Ellsworth, Minnesota. Bud, as he became known by many, helped raise his five siblings and did his best to “bring them up right.” Growing up, they made their own fun on the farm which included sending chickens up in pails tied to the tail of a big homemade kite. His mother, Grayce, was less than impressed until it was explained they were just helping them learn how to fly.
Bud graduated from Magnolia High School in 1947. In 1952 he was drafted into the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, during the Korean War. He served two years and two days due to leap year and being discharged on a Sunday.
Bud returned to farm north of Magnolia from 1954 to 1981. His first tractor was a 1952 Ferguson, the only tractor he ever planted with. His dad planted with horses and a planter with a wire feed strung across the entire field to “trip” the planter to drop a seed.
On August 17, 1952, Albert was united in marriage to Cornelia Boersma. The couple was blessed with three sons, Dwight, Kraig and Jon. They later divorced.
On June 2, 1973, Albert was united in marriage to Gloria Nieuwboer at Magnolia Methodist Church in Magnolia, Minnesota, and blessed with a son, Jeff. In 1981 they moved to an acreage north of the farm until 2023 when they moved into Luverne. Bud helped on the farm as long as he could, never officially retiring.
On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, he died peacefully at his home at the age of 94 years, five months, and three days.
Bud was born during the tail end of the roaring ’20s, grew up on a farm in a rural area during the ’30s Great Depression and graduated from high school two years after World War II ended. This “front end of life” instilled a deeply rooted conservative mindset that followed him for life through the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and on into the world we live in today. That was him. He naturally helped everyone he met realize their value, and they were a better person for having known Bud. Even the hospice nurses, Janelle and Marcia, who supposedly “tackled him” onto a hospital bed, would agree.
Bud’s love for fishing had him catfishing in local rivers, catching bullheads at Corabell, perch on Lake Sarah to lake trout, pike, Arctic char and more on his adventures to Alaska, Canada and the Northwest Territory. He enjoyed a good practical joke, puzzles and riddles, and card games. He was a better than average poker player and Five Crown and Quiddler extraordinaire. Bud was always on the lookout for a unique rock to add to his rock garden (with a few possibly smuggled back in a tacklebox). One of Bud’s favorite places to be was next to the bonfire on the acreage with family by his side.
Bud was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Luverne where he served as an elder, trustee and deacon. He was a board member for the Magnolia School District, Vienna Township, and Southwest Mutual Insurance in Adrian and was a member of the Dell Hogan American Legion Post 123 for 48 continuous years, where he called bingo and served coffee at the pancake breakfasts as part of his PR program.
Bud is lovingly survived by his wife of 50 years, Gloria Rust; four children, Dwight (Jill) Rust of Mitchell, South Dakota, Kraig (Pat) Rust of Magnolia/Kenneth, Minnesota, Jon (Linda) Rust of Rock Rapids, Iowa, and Jeff (Page) Rust of Omaha, Nebraska; 14 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; three siblings, Donald (Arliss) Rust of Buffalo, New York, Colleen (Gene) Cragoe of Luverne, and Jeanne Woodley of Luverne; sister-in-law Karen Rust; and lifelong friend Gary (Marcene) Hassebroek.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Grayce Rust; a sister, Pat Roberts; a brother, Keith Rust; and his two brothers-in-law, Jim Roberts and Ed Woodley.