Rudolph "Rudy" Jerome Pavletic

Rudolph “Rudy” Jerome Pavletic, age 85, of Hobart, passed away May 8, 2023. He was born in Gary Indiana to Rudolph Marion and Ann Magdelen Pavletic. Rudy attended grade school at Franklin School and St. Joseph Parochial School in Glen Park. He graduated from Lew Wallace High School in 1956. In May of 1957, Rudy joined the Army and was an infantryman at Fort Riley, KS for four years of military service, one and a half of those years which was served in Germany. Before joining the Gary Police Department in 1967, he held a variety of blue collar jobs. Rudy received a degree in Law Enforcement from St. Joseph University Northwest. At the police academy, he graduated first in his class among the Gary police officers. He was assigned to the Gary Narcotics Bureau in 1970. On September 30, 1972, he graduated from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs of the United States Justice Department in Washington, D.C. His group received many citations for the work fighting drugs in Gary. Rudy joined the D.A.L.E. (Drug Administration Law Enforcement) Task Force working out of the Chicago and Hammond federal building. His unit joined forces with the F.B.I., the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire Arms, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Customs Service in an effort to combat drugs. A karate teacher since 1969, Rudy taught programs at Y.M.C.A.’s in Gary, Glen Park, Valparaiso, Crown Point, Portage and Hobart, as well as the Martial Arts Institute of Tae Kwon Do in Chicago, Olympic Judo and Karate in Gary and the Chicago Judo and Karate Centers. Rudy taught police clinics in Gary and taught martial arts clinics throughout the United States. He studied the Chinese art of Chi-Kong under Dr. De Heng Liang OMD. Rudy considered himself a lifetime student of martial arts. He promoted over 60 students to Black Belt, and his students won over two thousand trophies in state, regional, national and international competitions. After Rudy’s retirement, he enjoyed meditating, walking, crosswords, spending time with family and friends and trying his luck with the lotto. He will be greatly missed. He was preceded in death by his parents; sister-Ann; brothers-Robert “Whitey” and Thomas “Tom”. Rudy is survived by his nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Visitation for Rudy will be Thursday, May 18, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. until time of funeral service at 6:00 p.m., at Burns Funeral Home, 701 East 7th Street, Hobart, IN 46342, Pastor John Starr officiating. Services will conclude at funeral home with cremation to follow at Burns Funeral Home Crematory (Crown Point). www.burnsfuneral.com.

Rudolph "Rudy" Jerome Pavletic

January 13, 1938 - May 8, 2023