COLOR FILLS VET'S LIFE.Byline: BETTIE RENCORET Senior columnist LANCASTER - Artist Ruben Perdue Perdue may refer to:
This is in direct contrast to the 22 years he spent as a helicopter pilot and gunner, including service during the Korean and Vietnam wars. His chopper was shot down twice and on one occasion a ground missile that blew up his gun mount almost took off his right elbow. He showed scars of the repair work that had saved it. ``That one just about blew my whole arm away,'' said Perdue, a Purple Heart Purple Heart U.S. medal awarded to those wounded in military action. [Am. Hist.: Misc.] See : Bravery recipient, ``but it didn't. I have full use of it now.'' Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. born and raised, Perdue attended Cathedral and Roosevelt high schools and graduated with a physical education degree from the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , in 1953. When he got out of the service he went to Los Angeles Trade Tech, where he not only learned how to operate boilers but received his certification as a locksmith in 1982. From 1971 to 1985 he ran the high-pressure boilers for Glendale Memorial Hospital and West Hills Hospital in Canoga Park. Then he went to Long Beach and ran the energy plants for the Queen Mary and the Spruce Goose. In 1989 he settled in Palmdale, built a 9-foot-high, 7-by-9-foot greenhouse and started growing catalaya orchids and tillandsias, called air plants because they have no roots. He loves to take his boat, a 17-foot Skeeter skee·ter n. Chiefly Southern U.S. See mosquito. See Regional Note at possum. [Shortening and alteration of mosquito.] , and go fishing. He favors bass fishing but he doesn't do it as often as he'd like anymore. He said he leads a kind of laid-back life now. ``I plan to just take things easy and have some fun,'' he said. Part of his fun is painting with other senior artists at the Antelope Valley Senior Center. He's been doing that for the past three years and gets a lot of pleasure from it. ``He's not only good with his oils, he's a real nice guy besides,'' said fellow artist Anne Chronister. ``We all just love him. If any of us needs help of any kind all we have to do is call him and he's there.'' That comment is echoed by the volunteers he serves with at the United Methodist Church United Methodist Church, in the United States, religious body formed by the union in 1968 of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church (see Methodism). soup kitchen and sandwich shops every Monday and Thursday. Perdue is humble about all such comments. ``I've had a good life,'' he shrugged. ``Not everybody has. Those are the people I like to help. In the wars, I was sent to do a job. I did that job and came home. I'm one of the lucky ones. I'd like to pass that luck along. That's the important thing, isn't it?'' Menus for the week at the senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster, Palmdale and south valley have been announced. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk for a suggested donation of $2. Today: Beef tips, parsleyed noodles noo·dle 1 n. A narrow, ribbonlike strip of dried dough, usually made of flour, eggs, and water. [German Nudel. , broccoli, lettuce and tomato salad and peaches. Tuesday: Creole chicken or fish fillet fillet /fil·let/ (fil´et) 1. a loop, as of cord or tape, for making traction on the fetus. 2. in the nervous system, a long band of nerve fibers. fil·let n. 1. , rice pilaf, beets, garden salad and orange. Wednesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, Normandy vegetables, tossed salad and Jell-O with fruit. Thursday: Pinto beans with ham, cornbread, parsleyed carrots, creamy coleslaw cole·slaw also cole slaw n. A salad of finely shredded raw cabbage and sometimes shredded carrots, dressed with mayonnaise or a vinaigrette. and cheese cake. Friday: Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrot, raisin, pineapple salad and ice cream. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Ruben Perdue, who nearly lost an arm as a combat helicopter pilot, paints an airplane. Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News |
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