In his 33 years in the Keys, the Massachusetts native had owned the Dockside Lounge and, later, Keywood Cabinet Distributors. He was an avid pilot who loved flying his Cessna 172.
On the bug board, Rudell was known for butting heads with some commissioners over spending issues, and he was the harshest critic of Ed Fussell, the 13-year director who retired shortly after the 2010 election saw a changed board without a majority bloc supporting him.
Mandich was the principal director of Mad Dog's Restaurants Inc., the parent corporation of Ziggie and Mad Dog's at mile marker 83 bayside in Islamorada. The restaurant, formerly known as Ziggie's Crab Shack, specializes in steaks, seafood and chops.
He founded the Mad Dog Mandich Fishing Classic, a two-tournament fishing event in Islamorada and Miami. The Islamorada one raises money for Mariners Hospital in Tavernier.
After moving to the Keys from New York in the 1970s, he ended up leading the Monroe County Advertising Commission and transitioning to its successor, the county Tourist Development Council.
He also was a co-founder of Fantasy Fest; the first one was held in 1979. And he was a big supporter of the Keys American Red Cross, winning its Florence Spottswood Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Clemons, nearly 40 years Bruce Springsteen's No. 2 man in the E Street Band, loved to play Keys venues, including the Schooner Wharf in Key West; the Brass Monkey Lounge, Castaway, Dockside Lounge and the Hurricane Grille in Marathon; and Woody's, the Lorelei and Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada.
He also served many years as grand marshal of the Key West Christmas boat parade, and was a sponsor of Marathon Capt. Diego Cordova's flats boat, Flat Out. Clemons loved flats fishing.
But he also was a driving force behind the Friends of the Key West AIDS Memorial, a group that worked to establish the White Street Pier memorial in 1997. It honors the memories of Keys residents who have died of AIDS and now has more than 1,000 engraved on it.
A Philadelphia native, Montgomery moved to the Middle Keys in 1960. She's noted for helping the nonprofit Monroe County Domestic Abuse Shelter open its first shelter in the Middle Keys in July 1984.
Montgomery was also known for her prominent role with the Fishermen's Community Hospital Ladies Auxiliary -- better known as the Pink Ladies. She spent some 25 years volunteering at the hospital.
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