Terry Lee Nuding

Terry Lee Nuding, 79, of Rochester, died on Saturday, February 20th at home surrounded by family. Terry was born on January 31, 1942 in Kewanee, Illinois. Son of David Nuding and Karlene Ferguson, Terry was a 1960 graduate of Lanphier High School and a graduate of Illinois State Normal University with a Master’s degree in Guidance Counseling. Terry married Sandra Hayes at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Springfield on August 27, 1965. Terry is survived by his loving wife Sandie, brother Michael Nuding, sister Linda (Wayne) Morrison, brother Dennis Ferguson (all of Springfield), sister Melody Ferguson of Sherman, step-father William Ferguson of Springfield, son Tim (Bene) Nuding of Rochester, daughter Jenny (Jeff) Brock of Covington, KY, son Tad (Patty) Nuding of Rochester, and beloved grandkids Drew, Winnie, Sophie, Lucy, Will, and Sam Nuding and Adam, Justin, and Alex Brock. He is further survived by his extended family including mother-in-law Anita Hayes of Springfield, sisters-in-law Kathleen Hayes of Rochester, Nancy Drew, Therese (Dale) Phillips, and brother-in-law Bob (Cheryl) Hayes (all of Springfield). He was preceded in death by his parents and his father-in-law, Robert Hayes. Terry served as a guidance counselor at Lanphier High School before embarking on a 30-year career as a real estate agent in central Illinois. He was proud to serve as the 2010-2011 president of the Capital Area Association of Realtors. Terry enjoyed church, fishing, golfing, playing cards, traveling, boxing, and coaching youth sports, but above all, loved spending time with his family. Services are under the direction of Wilson Park Funeral Home in Rochester. A celebration of life will be held at a later date. Memorials may be made in Terry’s name to the Rochester United Methodist Church, 555 S. Walnut St., Rochester, IL 62563, and the Memorial Medical Center Foundation’s Rock Steady Boxing Program, Mail Code 61, 701 N. 1st St., Springfield, IL 62781, in an effort to support Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia patients. Please visit the Wilson Park Funeral Home online at https://www.parkfuneralhomesinc.com/ where the family has recounted more details about Terry’s life and tributes and condolences may be left for the family.

 

More About Terry from His Family

 

We like to think Terry Nuding was one of a kind — at least he was to us.

 

He was a family man in every sense of the word.  He loved his brothers and sisters, and sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, too.  He viewed them all as his brothers and sisters.  He cherished his three children and his grandchildren and gave them every bit of love, encouragement, and attention they could dream of.  He took an interest in all aspects of their lives and rarely missed events, big or small. 

 

Above all, he loved his lady in red and wife of 55 years, Sandie. She was the center of his universe and was his everything. He worshipped his bride. And she, him.  Even when the disease had robbed his memory, he knew she was special and called her “my bride” with a gleam in his eye.  They shared their life together, and Sandie stood with him throughout the good times and the more difficult times. They found joy in every day. It has been a true love story.

 

Terry was born in Kewanee, grew up in Springfield, and he and Sandie moved the family to Rochester in 1970 where they have lived for 50 years. He worked with friends and relatives to build his own family home in Rochester.  In the summers between school years he built houses — 9 in all in the Rochester community — to supplement his teaching income.

 

He was proud to be a Lanphier Lion, an Illinois State Redbird, and a Rochester Rocket parent and grandparent. He loved the students and faculty and his time working at Lanphier High School. He valued and loved his friends in real estate at Benchmark Realty, John B. Clark Realtors, Realty Executives and especially at RE/MAX Professionals.  He valued his clients and was well suited to the work of helping people.

 

Terry was a sportsman.  He liked all sports, but at his core he was a baseball man. He knew the game and he loved it. He played baseball in high school and college and coached baseball at several levels. He especially enjoyed coaching his sons’ little league baseball teams and could often be heard calling his signature pickoff play “Come on, Lou”, which worked 100% of the time.  He remained close with many of his ballplayers throughout his life.  Terry was proud of the fact that he hit a homerun in six different decades.

 

He rooted for the St. Louis Cardinals, especially Bob Gibson in the early years and Yadier Molina most recently. He attended game one of the 2011 World Series at Busch Stadium and brought home the win. 

 

At various times in his life he was an avid golfer and a professional golf ball finder.  During golf rounds he’d disappear into the woods or the weeds and would emerge with way more golf balls than he went in with.  The man never bought a sleeve of balls in his life.

 

Terry and Sandie enjoyed playing cards with their friends in a couples Pinochle league for a long time. Terry played cards weekly with his poker group and at the end of the night always reported that he “broke even”.

 

He became a boxer in his 70s, participating in the Memorial Medical Center Foundation’s Rock Steady Program designed to help individuals suffering from neurological diseases maintain dexterity and stay active.  Attending Josh’s class was the highlight of his week for several years.

 

Some of his best advice was “never give your opponent a reason to beat you,” which sounds like it was meant for sports, but it was broader than that. It translated to all aspects of life universally, as he was basically advising ‘don’t act like a jerk.’

 

Terry enjoyed his food.  The family would often go out to dinner at one of Terry’s favorite restaurants, like The Fairview in Springfield, where the family was first introduced to the horseshoe sandwich.  He had to get a hot dog at every sporting event.  Later in life, he lived on Culver’s food and would always order a SnackPak. Some of his favorite meals were cooked around the holidays by his daughter Jenny and her husband Jeff at their house in Covington, Kentucky.

 

He took sides early in the cola wars and was a Pepsi man all the way. In his mind, Coke was…“marginal.”

 

For the last 35 years, Sandie and Terry have enjoyed going to dinner on almost every Friday night with their great friends and fellow guidos Steve and Sandy Hulvey.  The night usually starts with margaritas, but since Terry was a teetotaler, he would drink Pepsi instead and would declare he was “carbonated.”

 

He loved fireworks and was supremely impressed with every fireworks display he ever saw, from the Rochester 4th of July celebration to the Labor Day Fireworks displays in Cincinnati, Ohio, which Sandie and Terry attended many times. “Bam! B-Bam! Bam! Bam!” (with fist pumps).

 

During various parts of his life, he had nicknames including Termite, Mr. Hugs, and The Hammer.

 

At family gatherings Terry would always do the dishes. He said he was most qualified due to his work as a busboy at the Fleetwood Restaurant. Referring to himself, Terry always said “the dude does dishes.” He had an eclectic taste in music, which included The Oak Ridge Boys, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, John Denver, and Annie Lennox.

 

He was an active member of the Rochester community over the years, serving in his church, the Rochester United Methodist Church, where he played the role of Mr. Excitement in the youth club, leading the kids in games.  He also coached many youth sports.

 

Terry was agreeable and would go with the flow. He was always up for anything and when asked if he wanted to do something, he would often say, “Why not? Can’t dance!” and would confirm the decision by decisively claiming “Book it!”

 

Terry stressed positivity. He was optimistic, interested, sincere, and caring. He preached humility and despised arrogance. He instilled confidence. There was never a problem too big to handle.  These are some of the traits that made him an excellent husband, father, grandfather, friend, teacher, realtor, coach and mentor.

 

For the last seven years of Terry’s life, he met every challenge thrown at him by Lewy body dementia and maintained his positive attitude, gentle demeanor, humor, and unwavering grace.

 

Thank you to all of the family, friends, and acquaintances who impacted and enriched Terry’s life over the years. 

 

Terry Nuding lived a long and meaningful life. We, his family, are saddened by his loss but are filled with immense gratitude for the many years we had with our husband, dad, and Grampie. He inspired us all and will continue to do so for generations to come.

 

 

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