Christine Rutherford

Christine Rutherford, 77, of Bellevue, Washington died February 17th, 2023, of natural causes.

Services will be held in Westwood, New Jersey. Christine will be waked at Becker Funeral Home, from 9 to 11 AM on Friday March 3rd, 2023. Her funeral mass will be celebrated at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church of Westwood, at 11:30 AM on Friday March 3rd, 2023.

Born Christine Roth in River Vale, New Jersey February 27th, 1945, she was the daughter of John and Eleanor Roth. Her sisters and brothers included Mary Roth Browne, John Kyran Roth, Regina Roth Susek, Damien Roth, and Joseph Roth.

Christine graduated from St. Andrew’s grammar school in Westwood, Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale, N.J., and St John’s University in Brooklyn, N.Y. Later in life, she earned a Master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She was the beloved wife of Andrew Rutherford, of Westwood, until his death in 2002. They were married for 33 years. His career took their family to Illinois, Texas, Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota. Together they raised three sons: Dr. Drew Rutherford, a chemistry professor at Concordia College in Minnesota; Dr. Robert Rutherford, a biology professor at Seattle University in Washington, and Dr. Daniel Rutherford, and environmental engineer with the International Council on Clean Transportation in San Francisco, California.

Christine’s beloved daughter in-laws include Dr. Julie Rutherford, Liska Barker Rutherford, and Eiko Fujioka Rutherford. These woman blessed her with four grandchildren: Eliana Christine, Ross Andrew, Vivienne May, and Hannah.

Before her marriage, Christine worked as a group contract analyst with Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in Manhattan. After an 11 year stint as a stay-at-home mother, she re-entered the job market as a copywriter at KMNS/KSEZ sister radio stations in Sioux City, Iowa. She won several “Addy” awards for her creative work in radio.

Over the years, she also worked as a freelance journalist, ghost-writer, switchboard operator, ice cream dipper, government documents clerk, customer service representative at a real phone company, and as a word processor at Farm Credit Service during the “Farm Crisis” of the mid-1980s.

In 1988, Christine enrolled in Library School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, attaining her Master’s degree in library science shortly before her 45th birthday. She graduated second in her class and was inducted into Beta Phi Mu, an honorary professional society. Thanks were due to her husband for his urgings, encouragement, and for single-parenting three teenagers.

Thereafter, she enjoyed a challenging and satisfying career in librarianship. She was employed from 1991 – 2005 as Reference and Internet Services Librarian at Northwest Iowa Library Services, serving 115 small rural libraries. Her work included fielding the most difficult reference and research questions, teaching continuing education, and consulting in the area of emerging electronic resources.

Each person’s life has its challenges. As a college student, Christine commuted three hours and forty five minutes five days a week to St John’s University in Brooklyn, N.Y. She traveled via car, train, ferry, subway and then on foot. She was on campus during the 1965 “Black Out”. During the 1966 “Transit Strike” she walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to class. As a mother, her challenges included bearing three sons in four years; then as teenagers moving them in a span of nine months between Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota. In the 1980s, she prevailed in a sexual discrimination lawsuit against an industry giant. She survived the crushing grief of widowhood at age 56. She traveled to Japan at age 58, and to Ireland at 61 and again at 62.

She had fortitude.