Ella Mae Willis Rutherford

Published 10:00 am Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Ella Mae Willis Rutherford, 103 of Cumberland, passed peacefully on July 26. She was born March 9, 1921 in Front Royal, a daughter of the late Alfred Franklin and Hettie Bell Knave Willis. She was the widow of James Clifton Rutherford.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was also preceded in death by her sisters, Susie Figgins, Grace Hudgins, Ruth Hudson and Tootsie Willis, and brother, James Willis.

Although Mae had no children of her own she dearly loved her nieces and nephews. Mae enjoyed the simple pleasures in life, going places and spending time with family and friends, hearing “The Brothers” sing and her greatest joy was sitting on the front porch swing with her sister, Grace.

Those who touch our lives stay in our heart forever. Mae’s life was a blessing to many and her spirit will live on in our cherished memories.

The family can never adequately thank Dotty Roosevelt for her sacrificial love and devotion to Mae, attending to her with great compassion and grace.

Funeral services were held on Tuesday, July 30, at the Dunkum Funeral Home. The family received friends at 10 a.m. and the funeral service began at 11 a.m. Interment followed in the Jones Chapel Baptist Cemetery.