Services for Jimmy Isaac Rutherford, 75, Noble, formerly of Ada are 2:00 p.m. Tuesday at the Criswell Funeral Home Chapel, Rev. Wade Marcum will officiate. Burial will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery.
Mr. Rutherford died Friday, December 31, 2010 at a Norman hospital. He was born September 14, 1935 at Ada, Oklahoma to Aubrey Ruel and Madelon Anderson Rutherford. He attended Summers Chapel grade school and graduated from Vanoss High School where he played basketball and baseball. He attended East Central University.
He married Nancy Price on June 13, 1953 in Coalgate, Oklahoma. They were married for 57 years. They were resided in the Ada area until 1961 when they moved to Duncan. In 1962, Jim was employed with O. G & E. as a meter reader. He was later promoted to different titled jobs in the accounting department in Norman. He retired from O. G. & E. as the Supervisor of Fieldmen and Meter Readers. He worked part-time in the accounting department for O. G. & E. and later was a Medical Transportation driver for Roadrunner Transit in Ada.
Jim was a calf-roper and won the title of “All Round Cowboy” at the Sulphur High School Rodeo in 1953. He was one of the first members of the International Finals Rodeo Association. He was elected calf-roping director and also competed in bulldogging. He was a team-roper with his son, Rick Rutherford and also his daughter, Twyla Rutherford. He was World Champion Team Roper three different times. Jim was also a horse trainer for many years.
Survivors include his wife, Nancy Rutherford, of the home; a son, Rick Rutherford and his wife Zenda, Roland; a granddaughter, Casie Hull, Roland; two great grandchildren, Camryn Hull and Cambrey Hull; a brother, Ted Rutherford and his wife Bobbie, Stonewall; and a sister, Carol Ann Treat and her husband Leroy, Ada; and several nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by their daughter, Twyla Jan Rutherford on January 20, 2006.
Bearers will be Phillip Murrah, Mark Martin, Charles Ray Pogue, Tim Williams, Randy Wells, and Lanny Glasscock. Honorary bearers will be Jim Miller and Jim Lucas.
Criswell Funeral Home, Ada
