Charles LaVerne Rutter was born on March 12, 1937 on a farm outside of Cambridge, Iowa to E. Alfred Rutter and Erma Hazel (Michelson) Rutter. He graduated from Ames High School in 1955. After high school, he attended Area 11. He had several jobs during his young years, including delivering the Des Moines Tribune, Smart & Thrifty Store, and bailing hay for a local farmer.
Visitation will be held at St. Andrews Church (209 Colorado Avenue, Ames, IA 50014) from 10:00am-1:00pm on Saturday, September 7, 2019. Funeral service will follow at 1:00pm. Following the service, burial will take place in the Ames Municipal Cemetery.
On April 28, 1956, he married the love of his life, Lois Jean Sather. They met at the Roller Skating rink in Ames and danced their way through life until Lois’ death on July 17, 1996.
Charles attended the Police Academy and joined the Ames Police Department in 1961. He loved his job at the Police Department. He was always considered the “good guy” until his retirement in 1997. He also worked several part time jobs while starting a family.
His family was most important to him. He always wanted a large family, and that he got. He and Lois had eight children: Cindy (Bob) Jacobson, Julie Rutter (Mike Hemmer), Rick Rutter (Laure Nagle), Rosanne (Rick) Ringgenberg, Dan Rutter, Deb (Steve) Lage, Teri (Tom) Burke and Laurie Thompson. They blessed him with 26 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren with one more in 3 weeks. One brother, Ken (Johnnie) Rutter of Cleveland, TX. sister-in-law Val (Don) Shedd. The memories and being rich in love was the most important legacy he wanted to leave behind.
He created a home where everyone was welcome. All the kids’ friends and neighborhood kids loved to hang out at the Rutter’s.
Charlie was a very active man. He loved dancing and enjoyed traveling, and especially the ‘roughing it’ kind, and playing basketball with anyone who would take on the challenge. His passion was fishing. He had several fishing buddies and many fishing holes to choose from. Big Creek and Ada Hayden were two of his favorites. He was always the life of the party. Everyone gravitated to his warm and inviting personality. He had friends of all ages. He was known as Charlie, Tuna Boy, and The Godfather.
His hobbies included collecting coins and police patches and badges from all over the world. He was so proud of his prize winning collection, he entered it in the State Fair. He was also very crafty at woodworking and painting.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Lois, his mom Erma and dad Alfred, his brother Don, daughter-in-law Karyn Rutter, and a granddaughter Heather.
