Rudy Christian Hitzemann was born in Lancaster, New York .
he died some time in 2018. his recorded age was 86.
he was a veteran of the Navy and served in World War II.
Rudy Christian Hitzemann was born to German immigrant parents in Lancaster, New York in 1927 and raised near Buffalo. He proudly attended Amherst High, but left early to join his friends in WWII. While in the Navy, he worked with German prisoners because of his language skills learned by being raised in a German speaking household. Upon his discharge, he enrolled at Bowling Green and earned a degree in education, met the girl of his dreams (Jean) and were married the day after graduation. His first teaching job was in Kentucky, but it wasn’t long before they moved to a small town called Worthington, bought a piece of land, grabbed a hammer and a shovel to build their present residence. He was Worthington’s first swim coach and was an assistant football coach under Dow Nelson in the 50’s. He was always quick to donate his time, and lend a hand as an educator when it came to special needs people who needed extra help learning to drive. Sometimes it was just someone with a terrible fear of driving that avoided the task until they were in their 50’s. He helped with school projects like homecoming floats, theater scenery and emergency maintenance at the pool. His second career was at Anheuser Busch which he continued until he was 70, when he passed the baton to his son, Gary and grandson, Max to continue the beer making tradition. Sons John, Paul and Dan will have to settle for drinking the beer. Rudy passed quietly on the 17th after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He’s survived by his wife of 67 years, Jean; his sons, Paul (Heather), John (LuAnn), Gary (Theresa) & Dan (Gina); 9 grandchildren and 3 great- grandchildren. Viewing will be 2 - 4pm and 6 - 8pm on Tuesday, Oct 23 at Rutherford Corbin Funeral Home, 515 High St., Worthington. Condolences to www.rutherfordfuneralhome.com.