Several weeks ago, I ordered a copy of the death certificate for Harry Rudeen. Harry Rudeen was my grandpa Lawrence Rudeen’s older brother. He died young, at the age of only 25. I wanted to confirm the family lore about his cause of death: diabetes.
Ordering a copy of a death certificate from the State of Nebraska is fairly straightforward and you can do everything online. Death records are available for genealogical purposes if the death occurred more than 50 years ago. The cost is $16.00.
A copy of the death certificate is shown below. Here’s what we learn from it:
- The informant for the death certificate was Harry’s oldest brother Walter.
- His full name is listed as “Carl Harry Rudeen”. This contrasts to his baptism certificate which identifies him as “Karl Harry”. This is an example of the interchangeability of the letters C and K in the Swedish language.
- He was a single man with profession or trade as “farming”
- His father is listed as Gust Rudeen but the mother’s maiden name was left blank. Augusta was still living but I think she took his death very hard. She died only a week later. I’ve written about this previously. Perhaps she wasn’t up to answering Walt’s queries about her maiden name. Or maybe it’s just a clerical oversight.
- The cause of death was “directly and only from diabetes”. Dr. Wright had been treating him for the condition for about four years.
The death certificate pretty much confirms what we already knew.
Death from untreated diabetes was very cruel. Patients would waste away because their bodies could not metabolize fuel. The would have unquenchable thirst, among other symptoms. Eventually they would fall into a diabetic coma from which there was no hope of recovery.
Harry was a beloved member of the community and his death hit the family hard. I wrote about this previously on the 100th anniversary of his death.
