Husband and wife reflect on a life of service in the Salvation Army

[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”https://signal-tribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-07-at-10.04.02-AM.png” credit=”Photos by CJ Dablo | Signal Tribune” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Majors Rudy and Judy Hedgren don their uniforms once more during a visit to the Salvation Army’s Citadel in Long Beach, which houses, among other things, the administrative offices, social-service and worship facilities They retired from their life in pastoral ministry with the
Salvation Army earlier this year.” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off”] By: CJ Dablo
Staff Writer
After more than three decades in ministry, Salvation Army Majors Rudy and Judy Hedgren retired from service at the end of January. This last chapter with the organization is technically their second retirement with the Salvation Army, since they said they were active officers with the mission for about 30 years, left to work with other organizations and then returned to serve the Salvation Army in the greater Long Beach area before retiring a second time.
Two months later, the couple, who have been married for 49 years, returned once more to speak to the Signal Tribune at the administrative offices at the Long Beach Citadel on Long Beach Boulevard, where they had spent the past few years of service to the organization.
“We wanted to be able to continue our ministry wherever God felt it was best for us,” said Rudy, 71, of his second time with the Salvation Army. “And we feel it’s worked out very nicely in what we’ve been able to do since we retired.”
On Jan. 31, Rudy left his post as the director of operations after serving the greater Long Beach territory for 5½ years. His wife Judy, 67, also served there and at the same time, left her work in the social-service and community-outreach departments after about 4½ years.
Like many married couples, they know each other well enough to finish each other’s sentences. They remember how much the Salvation Army’s church life has brought them together and then whisked them around the world. Born and raised in Chicago, Rudy eventually took the call to serve as a youth pastor in Waterloo, Iowa. His wife chuckles at the story of how they met— he was the youth pastor for her church there.
Later, Rudy served a very different branch of service— the actual U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He was training in Georgia to be a mortar man, which meant he would be handling explosive material— and also that he would be shipped to Vietnam. The trouble was that Judy learned she would be expecting a baby. When they were trying to figure out what they would do, word went up the U.S. Army’s chain of command about Rudy’s ties to his church.
Judy remembers the headline of a newspaper that she kept: “Lieutenant in Salvation Army goes to private in U. S. Army.” They remember the base commander called the private into a meeting and gave him two choices: either work as a medic (which meant service in Vietnam) or go into chaplaincy. Rudy chose the latter and then served as an assistant to both Catholic and Protestant chaplains for the U.S. Army, both in Monterey, California and in Germany.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”https://signal-tribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Screen-Shot-2017-04-07-at-10.03.57-AM.png” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”Majors Rudy and Judy Hedgren retired from serving the Salvation Army in the greater Long Beach area at the end of January. The husband-and-wife pastoral team completed more than 30 years in ministry.” captionposition=”right” revealfx=”off”] The Hedgrens said that after Germany they were called to serve in the Salvation Army. Both have served in different capacities with the organization. Earlier in their careers, they worked as division and territorial youth leaders. The couple remembers the camps they organized for young people.
“The nice thing right now,” Rudy said, “is a number of our young people that came to camp, that worked at camp, have now become Salvation Army officers and are very active in the work of the Army, and we hope that we were a part of that.”
They even had an opportunity to work at a camp in Russia, just outside Moldova. One girl they had met in Russia eventually moved to the U.S. and trained to be a pastor.
Judy talks fondly of the times she and her husband mentored the youth.
“It’s such a neat, neat experience to be able to do that ministry for the Lord,” Judy said. “But it’s amazing how many times He opens up doors for us that we’re not even aware of, you know. And all of a sudden somebody comes into your life and you’re ministering to them just by listening to them. Just by having a listening ear.”
At the Citadel, the Hedgrens toured the facilities with the Signal Tribune one more time last month. The facilities had been two separate office complexes at one time, and now they were combined into one. The organization is planning to build a gymnasium and soccer field there soon. Rudy had handled the leases for the buildings when he served as director of operations. He also represented his organization at the Signal Hill Chamber of Commerce and participated in the groundbreaking ceremony at the Citadel. They retired after one of the buildings had been completed. These days, Rudy is considering volunteering with the Veterans Administration and thinks about spending time with veterans. In the Salvation Army, they had helped start a program to send “welcome home” packages for returning servicemen and women.
They have plenty of time to contemplate what their next chapter will be like, but these days, they still think about service. Now, the Orange County residents feel as though they are on vacation. They have more time to spend with their children and grandchildren. And right now, it sounds wonderful to them.