Ida Jackson Rudisill, Vernon Parish Louisiana
Submitted by Jane P. McManus
Date: October 29, 2006



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Mrs. Rudisill to be buried Wednesday
Founder of Memorial Hospital Dies at Home here; Interment will be in 
Louisiana

Funeral services for Mrs. Ida J. Rudisill, 78, founder of Memorial 
Hospital, will be held at 4 pm Wednesday at the Hyde Park Funeral 
Home by Rev. Karl Parker and Rev. T. F. Weaver. Burial will be at 
Boyce, LA. Mrs. Rudisill died at her home, 5237 Nett, at 3:40 a.m. 
Tuesday.

Born in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, Mrs. Rudisill, then Miss Ida Jackson, 
came to Houston in 1886 as a private nurse.  She had received her 
training as a nurse in New Orleans.

Saw Need for Hospital:
Seeing a great need for a hospital here, Mrs. Rudisill, with her late 
brother and two prominent physicians of that time, founded Memorial 
Hospital in 1900.  

The original building, a two-story structure, was at Smith and Lamar.  
When the hospital was expanded in 1923, the building was moved to a 
site on Louisiana Street. It is still in use and serves as one of 
six places where hospital nurses are housed.

The Baptists purchased the hospital in 1907 from Mrs. Rudisill at a 
cost of $18,000. It was then an 18-bed institution.

Held Up for Time:
Negotiations for purchase were held up a short time when the Baptists’ 
committee found that it did not have the necessary down payment of $1,000.  
The late Mrs. Rachel Stuart gave the committee a note for the amount.  
The note was presented to a local bank and when the bank advanced the 
money, the hospital changed hands. 

Mrs. Rudisill remained with the hospital for about four years as 
superintendent of nursing.  First superintendent of the hospital as a 
Baptist institution was Rev. D. R. Pevoto.

According to Mr. Pevoto, Mrs. Rudisill resigned as superintendent of 
nursing to make room for appointment of a Baptist to the position.  
Mrs. Rudisill was a member of the Christian Church and felt a Baptist 
should be in the position.

Retired to Ranch.
From that tiny hospital started by Mrs. Rudisill, Memorial Hospital 
has grown to an institution representing a value of several million 
dollars. Plans are underway now for expansion of facilities of the 
hospital by a building program amounting to about $4,000,000. Present 
bed capacity is about 325.

Following her resignation from the hospital, Mrs. Rudisill retired to 
her ranch at Kerrville. She had lived in Houston for the last seven 
years.  

Survivors include a sister, Mrs. Mary Grant of Simpson, LA, and a niece, 
Mrs. Roma Jackson Baatz of Houston.  

Note:
She was born 10 Nov 1868 Vernon Parish LA, died 19 Nov 1946 TX. 
She was daughter of Henry I. & Fannie (Mason) Jackson, wife of William 
Green Rudisill 
Buried Hemphill Star Cemetery, Boyce LA.