DEATH NOTICES
Mary Aycock Blanton, 95, of Rome, died Aug. 2, 2017. Good Shepherd Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements. Eugene Franklin Matthews, 72, of Cave Spring, died Aug. 3, 2017. Good Shepherd Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements. James David Phillips, 80, of Rome, died Aug. 2, 2017. Good Shepherd Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.
Kay Ellen Rutledge, 73, of Marietta, died July 31, 2017. Southern Cremations & Funerals at Cheatham Hill Memorial Park, Marietta, makes the announcement for the family.
Kay Ellen Rutledge
Dr. Kay Ellen Rutledge, age 73, of Marietta, passed away during the night on Monday, July 31, following a 12-year battle with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and Parkinsonism.
Dr. Rutledge was born on March 12, 1944, in Charleston, South Carolina. She was the daughter of the late Robert Bascomb Cox and the late Rosa Lee Jackson Cox.
Dr. Rutledge dedicated her life to education. She started her own education after the Cox family moved to Summerville, Georgia. Second grade was the last time she made a ‘B’ in school; the rest of her grades were all ‘A’s. Later, Dr. Rutledge moved to Rome, Georgia, where she graduated as the valedictorian of West Rome High School in 1962, and then graduated summa cum laude from Shorter College in 1965. She earned a Master’s degree from Southwest Texas State University in 1971, and a PhD from Georgia State University in 1986.
Dr. Rutledge retired from her career in education in 2011. She last worked at the Georgia Department of Education, where she managed reading tests and the High School Graduation Exam.
Prior to that, Dr. Rutledge was the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum at Lumpkin County Schools. She had accepted that position after a stint as an administrator and gifted teacher at Riverwood High School in Fulton County.
Dr. Rutledge spent most of her career at Georgia State University, where she managed the development and implementation of the state-wide teacher testing program for the Georgia Assessment Project. She also supported her husband’s career and raised her three sons during this time. Before that, along with her graduate education, she started her teaching career as a high school teacher in Tucker, Georgia — where she taught the school’s first integrated class — and in Forsan, Texas.
Throughout her career, Dr. Rutledge was an excellent educator.
She taught administrators, test developers, teachers, and students up to the graduate and professional level, including the first master’s degree program in teaching at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Georgia. She also published articles and books, primarily involving communication, testing, and education.
Further, she served at Eastside Baptist Church as a Christian educator for over 30 years in various roles with kindergartners, middle school students, teenagers, and bed-babies.
After Dr. Rutledge retired in 2011, she spent six years combating an extremely rare and potent disease, Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). The advancement of the disease ultimately took her life.
Dr. Rutledge leaves her husband, Dr. Arthur Latimer Rutledge, along with her three sons and their spouses: Robert and Vita Maria (Salvemini), Brandon and Jessica (Cochrane), and Jonathan and Amber (Phillips). She also leaves her highly cherished grandchildren (from oldest to youngest): Lane, Joe, Emily, Levi, Anthony, Henry, Greer, and Ty.
A memorial service will be observed on Sunday, August 6, 2017, at 3 p.m. at the Eastside Baptist Church on Lower Roswell Road in Marietta, Georgia, with Dr. Randy Cheek officiating, and eulogies from family and friends. The family will receive friends from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. at the church. There will be no graveside service.
Contributions may be made to the Multiple System Atrophy Coalition (www. multiplesystematrophy.org) in lieu of flowers.
Mary Aycock Blanton
Mary Aycock Blanton, 95, died August 2, 2017 at a local assisted living facility.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Charlie Blanton, her parents, D. N. Aycock and Frances White Aycock, and her four siblings.
She is survived by daughters, Marilyn Blanton Campbell and Jane Blanton; a son, Dan Blanton (Sharon); grandchildren, Rachel Grimes (Calvin), Erin Teems (Randy), Nathan Blanton (Heather), Josh Rose (Melody), Ryan Stroupe (Sara Jane), and Bob Campbell (Bob). Eight great-grandchildren also survive.
Family will receive friends from 6-8:00 p.m. on Friday, August 4, at Good Shepherd Funeral Home. Services will be at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, August 5, at Good Shepherd Funeral Home with burial following at Beech Creek United Methodist Church.
Special thanks to Riverwood Senior Living and Homestead Hospice for their many kindnesses. Many of the staff members have become like family.
Memorials may be made to Homestead Hospice at Hope Foundation, 10888 Crabtree Road, Roswell, Ga. 30075.
Please visit our website, www.goodshepherdfh.net, to post tributes.
Parnick Jennings Sr.’s Good Shepherd Funeral Home has charge of the arrangements.
Eugene Franklin Matthews
Eugene Franklin “Buddy” Matthews, age 72, of Cave Spring, passed away Thursday, August 3, 2017, in a local hospital.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by Parnick Jennings Sr.’s Good Shepherd Funeral Home.
James David Phillips
James David Phillips, age 80, of Rome, passed away Wednesday, August 2, 2017, at his residence.
Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, August 7, 2017, at Good Shepherd Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Scott Lambert officiating. Interment will follow in Oaknoll Memorial Gardens with Shanklin-Attaway Post 5 Honor Guard conducting full military graveside rites. The family will receive friends from 11:00 a.m. until the hour of service on Monday at Good Shepherd Funeral Home, 2750 Shorter Ave., Rome, Ga. 30165.
A complete obituary will follow in the Sunday edition of the Rome News-Tribune.
Parnick Jennings Sr.’s Good Shepherd Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.
DEATH ELSEWHERE Robert Hardy
LONDON (AP) — Robert Hardy, a veteran British stage and screen actor who played Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge in the “Harry Potter” movies, has died. He was 91.
His family said Hardy died Thursday after “a tremendous life: a giant career in theater, television and film spanning more than 70 years.”
Born in 1925, Hardy served in the Royal Air Force during World War II and studied at Oxford University, where he became friends with another aspiring actor, Richard Burton.
He began his career after the war in Shakespearean roles onstage in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Between 1978 and 1990, Hardy played the eccentric veterinarian Siegfried Farnon in “All Creatures Great and Small,” a popular TV series based on James Herriot’s books about rural life in the Yorkshire Dales.