Retired Const. Ron Rudy celebrates policing career with family and friends at the Maples Home for Seniors

Retired police Const. Ron Rudy, friend Irvin Zehr and fellow police officer and friend Rick Walker. Gary West photo

By Gary West

There was a celebration at the Maples Home for Seniors on Monday as resident Ron Rudy, who retired many years ago after spending most of his life as a police constable in Tavistock, was presented with new shoulder badges to add to the hundreds he already has in his collection. He and his family refer to them as “badges of honour” when he started collecting police shoulder flashes and hat badges. At one time, they didn’t dream his hobby would become so extensive. On a rough estimate, his collection consists of more than 1,600 items. Though the uptick in his collection has slowed over the years, the items within it are colourful reminders of long-disbanded police forces across the continent and around the world that still bring him a great deal of joy. Rudy began his hobby when he became an auxiliary police officer with the Woodstock OPP. Several officers were trading badges and Rudy thought it would be a good hobby to get involved with. He started writing letters to other forces and collected badges from police forces that had been disbanded.He even stopped by to personally meet a retired chief in the village of Hastings in eastern Ontario to try and persuade him to give up a badge that was sought after by many collectors.Eventually, he came home with the badge.Among his collection, which was on display Monday at the Maples Home, are badges that are both colourful and large. An Alabama State Troopers badge tells the long history of the original 13 British colonies. Along with these embroidered shoulder badges are many more cap badges, brilliantly polished and most from outside of Canada. In an interview, granddaughter Julia Petrie said some of her earliest memories were sitting at her grandparents’ supper table on Friday nights, awaiting their bird, Tim, to begin his chirp at the sight of a burgundy 1980s Chevy Silverado driving up the lane. This chirp was a signal that Grandpa Rudy would be arriving home after a long day of working the courts and driving a prisoner-transport van as a special constable for the Woodstock City Police. She said when her grandpa was in high school, he began an apprenticeship to become an automobile mechanic. He worked at two different garages in Embro and eventually became an auxiliary constable with the OPP. After that, he began a career that would make him Tavistock’s longest-reigning police constable.After Rudy‘s retirement from policing, one could find him working at Zehr automotive in Tavistock, driving the courier shuttle as well as picking up parts from all over southwestern Ontario. Petrie says her grandfather officially retired from the working world in March of 2020 when the pandemic hit. It was for his own safety. The decision was made for him to finally retire at the age of 81.She says she can almost guarantee he still longs for his days as a police officer, working alongside friend and neighbour Rick Walker. His days look different now. Instead of patrolling the streets of Tavistock, he keeps a careful eye on the bottom floor of the Maples Home For Seniors. It is here he ensures nobody bumps wheelchairs or speeds down the halls, and that all brakes on all walkers and wheelchairs are applied appropriately because it’s still in his blood to do so!