Gertruda K. ("Trudy") Mendenhall

Gertruda K. ("Trudy") Mendenhall, 94, died peacefully on February 3, 2018, in Greenville, SC, after a short illness. Her Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday, February 9, 2018 in Christ Our King Catholic Church, 1149 Russell Drive at 10:30 am. Prayers of Final Commendation and Farewell will follow in Mount Pleasant Memorial Gardens, where Trudy will be placed to rest next to her husband Frank. Following the interment, a celebration of life will be held in the J. HENRY STUHR, INC., MOUNT PLEASANT CHAPEL, 1494 Mathis Ferry Road.

Trudy was born and raised in Riga, Latvia, where she studied opera and violin, and learned to speak five languages. Trudy was a war bride, marrying Francis E. ("Frank") Mendenhall, II, in 1946. Frank was a career US Army officer. Together Trudy and Frank made their home and raised their children at numerous military duty stations across the country and around the world. Along the way Trudy took up golf, a game she loved and excelled at. She won numerous golf tournaments in the Charleston area, scored holes-in-one, and was the Women's Club Champion and president of the Ladies Golf Association of Snee Farm Country Club. When Trudy and Frank retired to Mount Pleasant, SC, Trudy developed a fierce loyalty to the Clemson Tigers. As an Army wife and well into retirement, Trudy was well-known as a gracious and generous hostess and a woman with impeccable taste.

Trudy was preceded in death by her husband Frank, her three sisters, Chessie, Helen, and Regina Chekster, her mother Theofilia Chekster, and her father, Boniface Chekster. She is survived by her daughter Karen Mendenhall, her son Francis ("Frank") Mendenhall, III, daughter-in-law Jean Coll Mendenhall, and five grandchildren: Zachary Yost, Schuyler Yost, Francis ("Jake") Mendenhall, IV, Kiira Mendenhall, and Conner Mendenhall along with their spouses and partners. She is also survived by six amazing great-grandchildren: Ted Yost, Blake Yost, Pippa Yost, Everett Mendenhall, Bode Mendenhall, and Brinton Mendenhall.

The family extends special thanks to the ICU staff at St. Francis Eastside Hospital in Greenville, SC, and to the caring staff at McCall House Hospice in Simpsonville, SC. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Trudy's name may be made to IPTAY Foundation, c/o Clemson University, Clemson, SC, or the charity of one's choosing.