The Rudnick Family

Aiken merchants & South Carolina civic leaders

Like many early Aiken Jewish families, the Rudnick family’s path to Aiken was influenced by marital relationships. Annie Sarah Rudnick (1878-1952) was born in Russia and married Solomon Surasky there before coming to America (& Aiken) with him in 1900. Solomon’s older brother BM Surasky had come to Aiken 10 years earlier and the remaining Surasky brothers were joining him here to establish themselves as merchants in the area.

Annie’s younger brother Morris Rudnick (1890-1943) joined his sister in Aiken around 1910 and initially worked in his brother-in-law Solomon’s store. He was likely following news of the Surasky Brothers success here (including the opening of two stores in Aiken by 1904) and wanted to capitalize on this opportunity.

Morris Rudnick opened a dry goods store in Aiken in 1911 and went on to become a prominent merchant in Aiken. Morris’ first store was a partnership of Payeff & Rudnick; his partner was likely George Payeff who was four years older than Morris and is buried in the Sons of Israel section at the Bethany Cemetery.

The store would not last long but Morris was soon in business on his own opening M Rudnick Dry Goods store on Laurens Street. That store was initially advertised as being run by S Rudnick (Sophie?) and subsequently by M Rudnick (Morris). This store achieved enough success that in 1919 Morris purchased the building (now occupied by White Rose Eclectic) for $10,500.

Around this same time, Morris married Sophie Halprin (1886-1965). Sophie was a widow with a young daughter Florence (born in 1907) from her marriage to Ralph Panitz. Ralph was a concert musician who moved to Aiken for health reasons but passed away here in 1913. Morris and Sophie had three additional children together: Rose (1917), Herbert (1920) and Harold (1925). Like many Jewish Merchant families, the Rudnick’s lived in a home on Pendleton Street, close to Morris’ business on Lauren’s Street.

In the 1930s, Morris closed his dry goods store and reopened the business (in the same location) as Rudnick’s Furniture store, specializing in selling and repairing radio sets. After Morris' death in 1943, the store was run by his wife Sophie until it could be turned over to his sons Harold & Herbert when they got out of the Service.

Herbert Rudnick (1920-1999) left the furniture business to go out on his own — building a successful chemical sales company called Star Chemical. He was active on a range of civic issues and became a leading advocate for people with Mental Retardation in South Carolina . Herbert served as Chairman of the South Carolina Mental Retardation Commission and was awarded the “Order of the Palmetto” (the State’s highest honor for community service) by Governor Richard Riley in 1985.

Harold Rudnick (1925-1997) ran the Furniture store on Laurens St until he moved it to Park Avenue in the 1965 and renamed it Rudnick's Barn. He continued to run the business from this location until 1996 when his health began to fail. Harold’s wife Irene Krugman Rudnick (1929-2019) was an attorney who initially ran her law practice out of the furniture store before she took on increasingly high profile civc roles. Harold was an active partner in all of her political campaigns.

Irene went on to become an important leader in local & state-wide civic affairs. She was Superintendent of Schools for Aiken County and played a major role in the founding USC Aiken –where she taught as an Adjunct Professor for 50+ years. In 1972, she became the first Jewish woman to be elected to the South Carolina State Legislature where she served from 1972-1986. She eventually moved her law practice to house on Pendleton St (the former home of Mandel Surasky) where she went into practice with her son Morris Rudnick Jr in the firm Rudnick & Rudnick.

Morris’ other daughters married and moved from Aiken. Florence Panitz (1907-1985) – the daughter of Sophie w/ Ralph Panitz– married Joseph Read of Charleston. Rose Rudnick (1917-2003) married Hyman Rubin of Columbia.

The story of the Rudnick family and its connections to Aiken was recounted by Rose Rudnick Rubin in an article for the Columbia Jewish News in February 1994 and is included below.

There are still members of the Rudnick family living in Aiken. Morris Rudnick Jr continues to run his law practice out of the same house on Pendleton St where his practiced with his mother. Herbert’s daughters Mary Ann Grice & Nancy Laurel Harmon also live here. And now Morris’s son is also practicing law here – meaning that the firm of Rudnick & Rudnick continues for at least one more generation.