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Obituary: Ernest "Ernie" Sanford Rutherford

January 20, 1927 - March 7, 2020
Obituary: Ernest "Ernie" Sanford Rutherford
January 20, 1927 - March 7, 2020
Posted at 8:14 AM, Jul 09, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-09 11:58:45-04

Ernest “Ernie” Sanford Rutherford Jr., of Great Falls passed away on March 7, 2020. He was born January 20, 1927 in Great Falls, MT, to Leota (Scrivens) and Ernest Rutherford, Sr. He attended elementary and junior high school at Franklin School on the westside of Great Falls. He graduated from Great Falls High School in 1945. Ernest and Audrey Calvert were married on March 21, 1951, in Great Falls, spending their first years in Seattle, WA during the Korean War.

Ernie joined the Navy in January 1945, serving in the Pacific aboard the USS Hollandia CVE97, and USS Piedmont AD-17. He was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War. After his discharge in 1948, Ernie went back to work for the Post Office, later transferring to US Customs Service in 1969, where he was stationed at Black Eagle Raposal. He transferred to the Port of Raymond near Plentywood, MT, and then the Port of Roosville near Eureka, MT, retiring in 1981.

Ernie was a DeMolay, 3rd Degree Mason, 33 degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a member of the Al Bedoo Shrine. He belonged to the Shrine Club Hospital Corps and Thunderbird Patrol of Great Falls. He and his wife were very active in the Scottish Rite Language Clinic since its foundation in Great Falls. To read the complete obituary and share condolences, visit the Schnider Funeral Home website.