Our Family wishes to thank all the wonderful family and friends who made today such a wonderful event.
Without your participation, this would never have happened.
From the stories and condolences to the amazing assortment of photos missing from our lives, to those other amazing bits of his life that we are now proudly in possesion of. They are worth more than you can ever imagine to our family.
We want to wish you a heartfelt Thank You.

Rudolph George Fecketter

1935 - 2009

This page is a permanent addition to the web site now so please bookmark it and stop by again from time to time to enjoy his wonderful life.
We will continue to update the page as more photos and stories arrive and I will make the hula girl pic the head of the page when it arrives.

See the stories below ! They are wonderful. ... email your stories to us here!

Click on his smile to see pics. Please send us yours if you can.

Does anybody have the hula skirt and coconuts photo from the donkey basketball game ?

Here are links to our charities.

The Lions Eye Bank of Albany give the gift of sight.

New York State Organ and Tissue Donor Registry give the gift of Life.

and of course, www.emilyscollegefund.com.

The stories have begun to arrive and they are wonderful. They bring so much of his spirit to life it is amazing. Thanks to all who participated. Please have a read and remember with us.

Mark Roberts

David: Here is a story:

Your dad invited me, not Keith and me, to accompany him on a field trip. Think of this, I was a high school kid and he saw in me a teacher, I'm sure of it.

He told me to act like a college kid who was going to become a teacher. How insightful was this?

Somehow I got to their house, I think it was the one near the radio station with the 5 levels, just to the north of Troy Schnectady road.

Well, anyway, I was excited because all of the other times it was always mark and keith... and now it was just me!

I rode to school with your dad and we got into a school bus. The trip was to Herkimer to look for the famous diamonds... I still have them!

Your mom was there, but I don't remember if you and Lynda went. I suspect yes.

He was such a great teacher, but one of his greatest qualities was the ability to get people excited about the weirdest things, and then go and do something. In this case, it was to dig holes in dirt and sift through tons of stuff looking for these little crystals. Talk about getting dirty!

The whole place was on the top of the ridge and was tree covered. It looked like a bombed out battle field from all the holes people had dug.

Trees were undermined and fallen over, some alive and some dead.

Your dad was the cheerleader, and would go from group to group looking at what everybody was doing, and encouraging everyone.

Both your parents made me feel like I was grown up, but it is easy to do that when you aren't the parent.

The day ended up with some success, but I had one of the greatest days of my young life. I'm sure that your Uncle Ray was not

excited to hear about all the fun I had with Uncle Rudy and Aunt Ruthanne.

I'll bet there was some teeth gnashing going on!

I had many days like that with your parents. I miss them both and think of them often.

People we love don't come and go throughout our lives. They give us things, and these things become a part of us.

It is our job to give to others and continue passing on enrichment.

I don't know when I might be able to call, my life is quite frantic lately.

but please know that I will keep both you and Lynda in my thoughts and I hope for you all the best,

wel,l as good as this situation will allow.

Keith Roberts

I have some great loving feelings for your Dad and Mom.

I can remember always having fun and doing things in the past fun with your family.

I remember eating frogslegs and going to a multi level house that was so interesting.

in the downstairs was a bar, funroom. from that was a living room.

I remember-
playing the clue game for the first time, but this is so hard to do.

to try to say reality should be First and Foremost not what we did but how we were treated.

David, Your Mom and Dad were soo good to me I always was so glad to see them. They would include us. They made us feel so good.

I can remember things but mainly I would like to say that I feel love when I think on the experiences.

I was a little red headed boy who didn't like to leave my mom. I always wanted to leave and go to Uncle Rudy and Aunt Ruthannes house.

the feeling of love, and the knowledge we would be treated as good as you would or could ever expect.

Whether it was sending us home with a big pillow from a pool center to jump on or a game of clue,,,,,

it was always such a nice experiance.

I know your Mom always wanted to bring me to channel six or get autographs if she could.

Ahhh, how do I say that this going to your house was a feeling of true Love. In the true love, we always had fun and felt so good having a family.

I remember going to mechanicville to get "little Hot dogs". ( Bubbles Restaurant )
I remember going to the Egg to be in a international tasteing to try other foods, etc.
I remember going bowling
I remember swimming in your many pools.
I remember playing clue
I remember eating neat foods, froglegs. the one and only time.
I remember being treated like a person. A loved one.
I remember going to "pick a show" at wrgb where my dad saw me in the audience.
He then called in and David Allen brought me up on stage to talk to dad and him and his guest.

I remember shopping, going to movies and out to eat.
I think the first Burger king Whopper was eaten with your family.

David, so many things. this letter is incomplete in some ways. complete to say,,,, They Love us.

God Bless..... I thank God to have been with such a nice family.

Kris Babcock

One of my most vivid childhood memories, not withstsanding the fact that I can't place the the year,
is when I went with the Fecketter family on a one day excursion to New York City.

The main event was to see Ringling Bros. at the garden. I remember sleeping overnight so that we could
leave early the next morning in order to get the full day in; having to get up in the dark and pile into the car for the ride south.

It was my first urban experience; leaving the quiet comfort of country life not knowing what to expect.

You hear and smell New York before you see it. Loud highway sounds, hot rubber, burning diesel fuel,
industry and cooking fat. Heavy, strong and literally in your face.

We arrived in the morning, just about rush hour, and the traffic was heavy.
I found it fascinating never having witnessed a traffic jam before.

every mundane annoyance for anyone else was a wonder to me. even parking in a multi-level garage was an adventure.
We spent the day going to the tops of tall structures.
The Empire State Building, The world trade center, the Statue of liberty.

We visited Chinatown and did many other wonderful things.
We ate street food and bought unusual things from street vendors
and walked through the caverns formed by giant buildings.

The highlight of the trip was supposed to be the circus. It started in the afternoon and went on for three hours.
after a day of sensory over load it seemed a bit of an anti-climax.
It's hard for a kid to sit for three hours.

After the circus we went to a steak house in Greenwich Village and had a very civilized dinner.
We then walked back to the parking garage loaded our swag and returned to Schenectady.

I don't remember arriving back at the fecketter house but it must have been very early.

I will always remember uncle Rudy for his love of fine food.
He always had something interesting to eat and drink when we visited.
and I credit or fault him for introducing me to the fine and costly appreciation of culinary adventure.

When I was in the hospital after being burned, Aunt Ruthanne and Uncle Rudy came to visit me.
I don't know how but we fell on the subject of my love life,
and told them I was going to ask Kathy to marry me.

Uncle Rudy asked if I was going to go through a formal engagement.
I said that I was planning to give her a ring but had to wait till more prosperous times.

He asked if she had shown any particular interest in a design.
For quite a while Kathy had described her ideal engagement ring.
Not a solitaire. A row of small diamonds in a platinum setting. Nothing too fancy.

Uncle Rudy excused himself and I talked with Aunt Ruthanne for a time.
He came back to the room, put his hand out and said: " does this fit her description? " and put into my hand a ring:
a row of small stones in a platinum setting, nothing too fancy.

"If its not to her liking return it to me and I can probably find what she's looking for.
I'm sure it will have to be resized but it looks like a good ring. "

I told him I thought it was perfect and that she would love it.
I asked how much he wanted for it and he said it was a wedding gift.

I thanked him very much, what else could I do?
After they left I called Kathy and told her to come visit me, that I was lonely and needed company.
" I'm kind of busy tonight. I have projects due tomorrow and don't have the time. But I guilted her into coming to see me.
I slipped th ring on my finger before she came into the room.

She sat next to me and started some small talk while I rapped my fingers on my cheek,
ring glinting in the bright white of a flourescent tube. "what's that ?" she questions.
I showed her my hand and asked the question.

She said yes; I put the ring on her finger and it was a perfect fit.

Marni Gillard (Wheeler)

My very first year of teaching – 1973 at Iroquois –

Rudy was the science teacher on my team (with Elaine Rosenberg (Dashew) and George Ward).

Rudy was so warm and friendly. I loved his silly jokes, corny as all get out,

but just what a TOO serious new teacher needed to keep her smiling.

Rudy invited me and the rest of the team to his home around Christmas time and I’d never seen such a huge tree.

My own family was far away and I remember thinking that day that life in the capital district would be ok.

Seems small, but at the time, it was big.

What I mostly remember was Rudy’s friendliness that year and though I never had the privilege of working on a team with him again,

he always sought me out at district gatherings to see how I was doing and how I was faring as a teacher.

I loved hearing about his kids and all the things he did for fun. He was a treasure.

Bob and Pat McKee (Boothbay Harbor, ME)

We are so sorry to hear of your loss.

Rudy was a beloved colleague who always brought a cheerful,

fresh perspective to his work, and to our lives.

Sue Fryling (Niskayuna, NY

I am so sorry about your Dad.

I hope that you and your family will find solace in the wonderful memories you have of him.

This was the announcement we placed inviting everyone to attend.

Thank you all for coming to share his life with us.

We will treasure these memories forever.

Look for the Gold Star Balloons on State Street

We are on AOL Instant Messaging click here to say hello today so we can visit with you.

AOL AIM ID davefeck We can now chat and do live video chat send us a chat request Sat.

His family wishes to invite his students, family, and co-workers to celebrate his life Saturday, February 21st 2009 from 12 Pm to 4 Pm at the Ancient Order of Hibernians Hall , 1748 State Street Schenectady, N.Y. 12304. We request that you bring photos and a written memory of how he touched your life to share. In lieu of flowers, we will be accepting used eyewear and donations for The Lions Eye bank at Albany.