Earnest Timothy “Tim” Rutherford, Sr., 63, of Tifton died Tuesday, December 11 at Tift Regional Medical Center in Tifton.
Funeral services will be held 2 P.M. Friday, December 14, at the Paulk Funeral Home Chapel in Fitzgerald with Rev. David Fisher officiating. Interment will follow in Evergreen Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 7 until 9 Thursday evening at the funeral home.
Mr. Rutherford was born July 12, 1944 in Fitzgerald to the late Hoke S. and Viola Hurt Rutherford. He lived in the community most of his life. He was former owner/operator of R & R Motors and former General Manager of Bowen Motors. Mr. Rutherford was one of the elite top ten General Motors salesmen in the United States. He was a former Exalted Ruler of the Fitzgerald Elk’s Lodge and a Mason. Mr. Rutherford was a member of Morning Side Baptist Church and former member of Northside Baptist Church.
Mr. Rutherford is survived by his wife: Christine Broome Rutherford of Tifton; three children and their spouses: Sherry & Dr. Richard McCullough of Tifton, Tonya & Kurt Horstmann of Jacksonville, FL, and Earnest Timothy, Jr. & Heather Rutherford of Fitzgerald; grandchildren: Matthew, Lynley Grace, Hunter, Blake, Haydn, and Nandee; one brother: Hoke T. Rutherford of Fitzgerald; two sisters: Thelma Hamm of Newport News, VA and Willester Guirado of Fitzgerald. Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by a grandchild, Amber Nichole, two brothers and four sisters.