Cecil Edward Rudick was one of eight children born to John Andrew Rudick (3-31-1855 to 11-23-1921) and Jemima Catherine Crews (12-5-1863 to 1952) in northern Arkansas. He had older siblings Ollie Mae (1-9-1880 to 1-6-1971), Edna Aldene (5-15-1883 to 10-1-1964), Rosa E. (4-27-1885 to 7-10-1946), and Floyd Erasmus (9-26-1886 to 1-15-1967). He had younger siblings Macon Cornelius (10-9-1889 to 8-23-1934), Josephine (~1882 to 4-23-1911) and Winfred Homer (7-14-1891 to 1-30-1947). John Rudick deserted his family in 1897. Eventually, Catherine remarried and settled in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, as did several of her children.

Mary Alice Cessna was one of nine children of Walter Coombs Cessna (9-28-1856 to 5-26-1942) and Susan “Sudie” Walters (4-28-1856 to 2-16-1925). Four of the children died in infancy. She had an older brother Joseph Walters Cessna (3-6-1884 to 6-1977) and younger brothers Samuel Head Cessna (10-9-1892 to 8-5-1990), Squire LaRue Cessna (4-11-1896 to 1-1-1988) and Leslie Howard Cessna (5-13-1898 to 9-29-1991). The family lived in Larue County, Kentucky. By 1910, however, with the exception of Joseph, who was married and lived in Louisville, the Cessnas had relocated to Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, as part of the oil boom. By 1920, everyone was back east, either in Kentucky or in Michigan.

Mary Alice Cessna and Cecil Rudick met in Oklahoma and were married on April 12, 1911. Their first child, Walter Cessna Rudick, was born in Oklahoma. In 1915, their second child, Dorothy Bonita Rudick, was born in Kentucky. Exactly when they left Oklahoma is uncertain, but by 1917 Cecil worked for the railroad in Louisville. They moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Vera Mae Rudick was born. In Detroit, Cecil was a streetcar motorman, a job shared by his brother-in-law Joseph Cessna.