Rudolph Pastian

Rudolph "Rudy" Pastian, age 99 of Sauk Centre, passed away on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at the VA Health Care System in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, November 25 at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre with Pastor Marty Porter officiating. Interment will be held in Greenwood Cemetery following the service.

Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre.

Rudolph Pastian was born June 24, 1918 in New Leipzig, North Dakota, the sixth child of Gottlieb and Mathilda (Sandau) Pastian. He was two years old when the family moved to the rural Sauk Centre, Minnesota area, eventually ending up on a farm northeast of town. Rudy attended school in rural Sauk Centre at District 136 and later joined the Navy on October 23, 1940. After six weeks training he was assigned to the USS Wasp C.V.7, a new aircraft carrier commissioned in April of that year. The Wasp was patrolling the Atlantic Ocean and escorting convoys until the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Then it was sent to Martinique, a French controlled island, to confiscate a French carrier and several cruisers to help prevent the Germans from getting them as France had fallen to Hitler. Later the Wasp was sent to the Pacific and supported missions of bomber planes of the Marines and Army. The Wasp was hit by three torpedoes from a German submarine on September 15, 1942 and was sunk. There was approximately 2,700 men aboard the Wasp who had to abandon ship. Rudy survived areas of burning oil on the sea and hung on to the lines of a life raft until their rescue by the USS Duncan. He was then assigned to the USS Essex which was a new carrier still under construction. The Essex was in combat striking Marcus Island, Wake Island, Rabaul, Gilbert Islands, Kwajalen Atoll, Marshall Islands, Truk Islands, Mariana Islands, Visayan Island, the Philippines, Okinawa (where Rudy's brother Leo was killed), Iwo Jima, Saigon, and several Japanese islands and atolls. They didn't dock for several months but took on fuel, supplies, and other items on the go. The Essex provided more damage to the enemy throughout the years of service than any other ship ever. The Essex also received no recognition of that fact by the media or historians. Rudy was honorably discharged December 21, 1946 and had a collection of seven medals and nine campaign medals for his service.

He returned to the farm and lived in that area until his death. Besides farming, he also had a sawmill for many years. He heated his house completely with wood up until his last year. Rudy always raised a garden and enjoyed woodworking, sharing his many creations with family and friends. He has been an active member of the Little Sauk American Legion and was also a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre.

He worked together with his neighbors and appreciated their assistance in his later years. Rudy will be missed, blessed be his memory.

He is survived by his sister, Evelyn Kennedy of Sauk Centre; and several nephews and nieces and their families.

Rudy was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Otto, Herb, Paul, Art, Melvin, and Leo; and sisters, Elsie Miller and Esther Fredrickson.

Serving as casket bearers will be Steve Kennedy, Donald Kennedy, Douglas Pastian, Darren Pastian, Kevin Tschida, and Lynn Holm. Honorary bearers will be the Little Sauk American Legion.