Andy Juden, advocate for Cape's floodwall, dies at 80

When the Mississippi River rises, downtown Cape Girardeau business owners can thank Andy Juden and his father for their dry floors.

"A lot of ... flooding would have occurred without him maintaining the pumps," local Realtor Tom Meyer said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon.

Charles Andrew Juden Jr., 80, better known as Andy, died Thursday at the Life Care Center in Cape Girardeau, according to an obituary from Ford and Sons Funeral Home.

Juden's father, a prominent downtown business owner, was instrumental in creating and maintaining the floodwall that has protected downtown Cape Girardeau since the late 1950s.

"That's part of the downtown history. Downtown took it on themselves to protect their area," Meyer said.

In 1965, Andy Juden was elected to succeed his father as president of the Main Street Levee Improvement District, according to a 1987 Southeast Missourian article about the elder Juden.

He served on the board until the city took over the district in 2008.

"He was always keeping an eye on the water, the river level. After the wall went in, there needed to be someone maintaining the pumps," Meyer said.

The great-grandson of local railroad magnate Louis Houck, Andy Juden understood his family's role in Cape Girardeau history, said Dr. Joel Rhodes, a Southeast Missouri State University history professor and author of the book "A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: The Life of Louis Houck."

"I always got the sense about Andy that he took the family's legacy and history very seriously," Rhodes said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon.

In 1988, Juden and his wife, Jeanette, helped preserve part of that legacy by donating Houck's letters, records and papers to the university.

"It's a substantial collection. I think it's safe to say it's one of their most substantial collections," Rhodes said.

Rhodes said he spent time with the Judens while researching the Houck book.

"I always considered him to be a very savvy businessman and a very hard worker," he said.

Despite his family's prominence in the community, Juden remained approachable and never "put on airs," Meyer said.

"He really didn't play that up," he said. "He was pretty much an average person in the eyes of a lot of people -- very approachable and very enjoyable to visit with."

Meyer remembered Andy Juden as "sort of a free thinker" who drove a Delorean and had a friendly greeting for everyone he met.

"He was somewhat colorful. ... He had confidence in himself to do things that he thought was good, that was enjoyable," Meyer said.

Newspaper clippings over the years show Juden as an active community member throughout his life, serving on the Cape Special Road District board of trustees and letting the Cape Girardeau Police Department use his land for firearms training, qualification and testing.

The Delorean wasn't Juden's only unusual mode of transportation. A 1978 Southeast Missourian photograph shows him driving a six-wheeled all-terrain vehicle through deep snow.

According to his obituary, Juden was an avid hunter and an active member of the Lions Club, Cape Girardeau Country Club and Elks Club.

"He's going to be missed," Meyer said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, MO

REMEMBRANCE

What: Visitation for Andy Juden

When: 4 to 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Chapel

Memorials: Crown Hospice or the charity of your choice