Bobby Gene Rutherford, 77, of Tifton died Tuesday, February 12, 2013, at Tift Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, February 15, 2013, in the Chapel of Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals. Dr. Fred Evers will officiate with burial to follow in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Mr. Rutherford’s grandsons, Patrick Fallin and Anthony Fallin, along with Lt. Garfield Rainey, Lt. Steve Hyman, Courtney Noland and Police Chief, Buddy Dowdy, will serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Sgt. Toni Gann, Jim Willkomm, Larry Scarborough and Jim Smith. The family will receive friends on Thursday, February 14, 2013, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Mr. Rutherford was born on May 8, 1935 in Chattanooga, Tennessee and was the son of Theodore Rutherford and Martha E. Bedwell Rutherford, both deceased. He was also preceded in death by two brothers; and four sisters. He worked for the Tift County Sheriff’s Department from June 1979 to August 1981, where he was a jailer. He was then employed with the Tifton Police Department from June 24, 1983 to June 30 1997, where he was a patrolman, a school resource officer and a parking enforcement officer. He served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1973 and was a veteran of the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He received the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Infantry Badge. He was also a member of Northside Baptist Church.
Mr. Rutherford is survived by his wife, Loretta Blevins Rutherford of Tifton; one daughter and son-in-law, Theresa Ann and Harry Fallin of Tifton; two grandchildren, Patrick Fallin and his fiancé, Cecilia Estella and Anthony Fallin and his wife, Jodi; one great-granddaughter, Hannah Grace Fallin; an uncle, Lum Ruth of Chattanooga, Tennessee; two nieces, Donna Marshall of Moultrie and Dena Mathis of Moultrie; and a sister-in-law, Laverne Blevins of Moultrie.