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NOTE: The following account appeared in The Times Herald-Record of October 25, 1993; and was reprinted, with permission, on p. 1 of the October 28, 1993 edition of The River Reporter.

See RELATED EDITORIAL here, and obituary here.
Another related article here.

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Organizer dies on walkathon

By LISA JOHNSON

NARROWSBURG - Clyde "Bud" Rue walked his last steps in the name of society's forgotten people.

Rue, 59, died, Sunday, October 24, after marching briefly in the "Walk for Social Justice," a 10-kilometer walkathon he and other members of the Upper Delaware Unitarian Universalist Fellowship organized to raise funds for human service organizations in Sullivan County and Wayne County.

"He was the oil that keeps society operating," said longtime friend Glenn Pontier. "He filled in the cracks and smoothed the gears."

Pontier, who was one of the 28 people walking in the march with Rue, saidRue grew tired after the first mile or so. The "sweep car" following the walkers picked Rue up. He chatted with the drivers -- Pontier's parents -- for a few moments and then collapsed.

Pontier said Rue was driven to Innisfree in Milanville, Rue's home and the walkers' destination. Emergency medical workers were called to the scene and Rue reportedly died on the way to Wayne Memorial Hospital.

"He was so anxious to do that walk," Ann Rue said. Mrs. Rue said she tried to talk her husband out of walking, feeling it would be too strenuous. "But he would not be dissuaded."

The $1,000 raised by the walk will benefit the Victims Intervention Program of Honesdale, an agency that helps battered and abused women; Habitat for Humanity of Wayne County; Interfaith Outreach United of Callicoon; and the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office.

"The common denominator was my father," said Tom Rue of Monticello. Tom Rue described his father as a man, who, together with his wife, Ann, dedicated much of their time to charity. While others might lament social problems, Tom Rue said, "My father asked, `What can we do?' And then he did it."

Tom Rue said his parents generated the idea of a local Habitat for Huanity chapter, a national program that helps poor families build homes on donated land, and formed the group with other religious organizations.

Tom Rue's wife Carmen echoed her husband's sentiments.

"He was like a father to me. He was always there for anybody who needed him."

Yesterday's walkathon began with Rue leading the way from the Tusten-Cochecton Library in Narrowsburg toward Innisfree. Innisfree, Tom Rue explained, was an educational summer camp for teens that his parents operated in 1970. The couple moved to Innisfree four years ago when Clyde Rue retired from teaching mathematics in New Jersey.

The cause of Rue's death could not be determined las night, though friends said Rue had asthma and had recently undergone two operations.

Rue was a founding member of the Upper Delaware Unitarian Universalist Fellowship; a board member of The River School at Innisfree; and a founding member of the Upper Delaware chapter of Amnesty International.

Rue and his wife have four adult children. Tom Rue, John Rue of New York City, David Rue of Newtown, Pa., and Ella Rue-Eyet of Rockland, Mass.

"He was simply a great spirit," Pontier said. "He died walking for social justice. If I could only have that on my epitaph."

Pontier said organizers hope to make the walkathon annual as a memorial to Rue, and the family is asking that memorial contributions be made to the Fellowship, which will distribute the money to the four agencies for which Rue walked.