Longtime Iola resident Merle Irene Dean Rutledge, 89, died of a brain aneurysm Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011, at Menorah Medical Center in Overland Park.
Born in Canadian, Texas, on Dec. 17, 1921, she was the seventh of nine children born to William Aaron and Myrtle (Crawford) Dean. She grew up in and was educated in the Canadian area.
She met William Wesley Rutledge when he worked on a road construction crew near Canadian. They were married June 28, 1942, in Hedley, Texas. Their early-married years were spent in Booker, Texas, where he continued working road construction. She began her own business, “The Rutledge Dog House,” a town cafe on Booker’s Main Street.
In 1950, the couple moved to southern California. They lived there until the summer of 1955, when they relocated to Iola. He died May 1, 1991.
She operated a laundry service out of her home in Iola for several years. After closing her business, she worked as a cook and waitress at numerous Iola cafes. In the mid-1970s she began employment with Berg Manufacturing and remained there until she retired in 1986.
She is survived by three sons, Wesley and his wife, Nancy, Centerville, Utah, Don, Iola, and Ron and his wife, Connie, Iola; six grandchildren, Dawna Rutledge. Jonathan Rutledge and his wife, Lindsey, Andrea Works and her husband, James, Gretchen Rutledge, Stephanie Splechter and her husband, Levi, and Shelly Sheble; nine great-grandchildren; and special nieces and nephews, Betty Sue Schroeder and her husband, Ron, Dale Sandlin and his wife, Virginia, and Kay Croghan and her husband, Jack.
A granddaughter, Sheri Moore, five brothers and three sisters died earlier.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel in Iola.
Funeral services will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the funeral home. Chaplain Lloyd W. Houk will officiate. Burial will be in Highland Cemetery in Iola.
Memorials to Allen County Animal Rescue Facility (ACARF) may be left at the funeral chapel. Online condolences for the family may be left at iolafuneral.com.
Merle Rutledge
