Individual Details

La Grande Observer, La Grande, Oregon, 19 Feb 2010: Sarah Ann Fauntella Jones Rutherford, 82, of Elgin, died Feb. 16 at Grande Ronde Hospital in La Grande. Viewing will run from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center. Family and friends are invited to celebrate Fauntella’s life at the Elgin Church of the Nazarene at 2 p.m. Sunday. Burial will follow at Island City Cemetery. Fauntella was born May 31, 1927, to Ted and Mae (Lemmon) Jones in Gage, Mont. She grew up on a farm outside Audubon, Iowa. She worked in the fields with her father while her brothers were fighting in World War II. She graduated from Audubon High School with the Class of 1945. On Jan. 27, 1945, she married Donald Robert Rutherford in Maryville, Mo. In 1957 they moved to Elgin. She graduated from Eastern Oregon College and taught school for more than 30 years. Those who knew her say she was a strict disciplinarian in the classroom but made learning fun. In their retirement years the couple wintered in Arizona where they enjoyed Cubs baseball, golf and dining out. Fauntella taught herself to play the piano. She also played the organ, violin, chimes, dulcimer and harmonica. She loved to sing, dance, read and get her hair styled and dress to the nines. She was famous for her dessert breads, and in 1998 she wrote a cookbook, “Gramma’s Gravy.” She said family was the most important thing in her life. Through many illnesses and tragedies those who knew her said she remained a woman of faith. Survivors include her son, Michael Rutherford of Elgin; daughter, Sandra Rutherford of Chandler, Ariz.; daughters-in-law, Susan Rutherford of Elgin, Lisa Rutherford of Ivins, Utah, and Clarice Rutherford of Scottsdale, Ariz.; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren; sister, Bernice Barratt of Irwin, Iowa; sister-in-law, Esther Vogler of Tucson, Ariz.; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Don; a son, Alan Rutherford; three stillborn infants; sisters, Audrey and Bonnalyn; brothers, Floyd and Bud; parents, Ted and Mae Jones; and other relatives. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association in care of Daniels-Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center, 1502 Seventh St. in La Grande.

Sarah and Donald show on the Missouri Marriages 1805-2002 index as married 2 December 1944. Viewing the image of the entry shows that it was their date of application, not the actual date of the marriage.

Birth	31 May 1927	Gage, Musselshell Co., Montana
Birth	31 May 1927	Gage, Musselshell Co., Montana
Marriage	27 Jan 1945	Maryville, Nodaway Co., Missouri - Donald Robert Rutherford
Death	16 Feb 2010	La Grande, Union Co., Oregon
Alt name		Fauntella S. Jones
Burial		Island City Cemetery, Island City, Union Co., Oregon

Spouse

Donald Robert Rutherford (1923 - 1989)

Father	Ted Jones (1894 - 1985)
Mother	Margaret Mae Lemmon (1893 - 1968)
Sibling	Floyd Lemmon Jones (1918 - 2004)
Sibling	Bernice M. Jones (1920 - 2004)
Sibling	Boyd T. Jones (1922 - 2004)
Sibling	Doris Bonnalyn Jones (1924 - 1927)
Sibling	Audrey Byrd Jones (1929 - 2006)