On June 25, 2019, Rudolph (Rudy) Escalera lost his five year battle with cancer. He passed away peacefully with his family and loved ones by his side. Rudy was born to parents Albert and Soledad Escalera on February 27, 1936, in Santa Barbara, California. He was a second generation Santa Barbarian. Rudy attended local schools and graduated from Santa Barbara High School in 1954. Rudy, his brothers and many friends spent a great deal of time at the downtown Santa Barbara Boy’s Club and he was a life-long supporter of the club.
Rudy attended Santa Barbara City College before joining the United States Forest Service on a hotshot crew battling wild land fires. He also enlisted in the United States Army as a reservist. During his tenure as an Army reservist he joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW Local 413) in Santa Barbara County, where he worked for a number of local electrical firms over many years as a union electrician.
In the 1980’s Rudy spent a number of years working at Vandenberg Air Force Base on the United States NASA Space Shuttle Program.
Rudy was raised by his father to enjoy the outdoors and he spent the better part of his life as an avid fisherman and hunter. He played tennis and golf as a young man. He reconnected with golf in his retirement years. He enjoyed his weekly outings to the golf course with his many friends. Rudy was a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Rams, and Los Angeles Lakers. He also enjoyed following local high school sports, SBCC sports, and UCSB sports.
Rudy was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend to many. He is survived by his first wife Anita Fabbian Goodfield, and their three children: a son Brett Escalera, his daughters Karen Escalera Rothstein (Barry) and Lynn Escalera Garrett (Chris), his wife of 40 years, Judy Escalera, a stepson Steve Harris; and his 11 grandchildren; Jeffrey Bogart, Jennifer Bogart, Colton Bogart, Daniel Bogart, Natalie Rothstein, Jacob Rothstein, Kathy Rothstein, Owen Garrett, Brett Escalera Jr., Hunter Harris and Brandie Harris. Rudy is also survived by his five siblings; Elvira Escalera Thompson, Carmen Escalera Silva, Gloria Escalera Jones, Albert Escalera, Jr., and John Escalera, plus numerous nieces and nephews.
His smile, laughter and sense of humor will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.
His family would like to thank his many doctors; Dr. Paul, Aijian, Dr. Peter Baay, Dr. Linda Chen, Dr. John McCaffrey, Dr, Adnan Naber, Dr. Jeffrey Sager, Dr. Natasha Marston, as well as the staff at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, The Californian, SB Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care, and Serenity House.
There will be a “Celebration of Life” to be held in Rudy’s honor at 1:00pm on Saturday, August 3rd, at the Elks Lodge Santa Barbara #613 at 150 N. Kellogg Avenue in Goleta. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting a donation be made, in Rudy’s memory to: Serenity House, Care of Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care Foundation, 509 E. Montecito St., Suite 200, Santa Barbara, CA 93103 www.vnhsb.org/donate
