Dedication

The Ina Mae Rude Aquatic Center was made possible by a generous gift given by Raymond C. Rude.  He was a Stanley native.  The Aquatic Center is named in honor of his wife who passed away in July 2001.


Ina Mae Rude was born in Fillmore, ND in 1920.  After graduating from NDSCS in Wahpeton, ND she moved to California.  She was eventually hired by Lockheed Aircraft where she met Ray Rude.  Several years later she was hired by Ray after he had started his own business, Productioneering, an aircraft tooling firm.  They married in the late 1950's and she worked with Ray in his business until her death in July 2001.

Raymond C. Rude was born in Stanley, ND in 1916.  He left North Dakota in 1932 and eventually found a job with Lockheed Aircraft.  After WWII he started his own company manufacturing templates used to produce aircraft wing panels.  A rejected wing flap from Lockheed Constellation became the first aluminium diving board Ray invented.
All Olympic diving events, since 1960, have used exclusively the Duraflex diving boards.  Global competition diving events have used Duraflex diving boards manufactured by Ray since the 1960's. 
Mr. Rude moved back to Stanley in 2002, and was actively involved in the operation of the aquatic center.  Raymond C. Rude passed away in the Mountrail County Medical Center on December 16, 2004.


Ownership
The facility is owned and operated by the Mountrail County Aquatics Foundation, Inc. A North Dakota non-profit corporation.