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- Sacramento Bee, 7 May 2011
Alice Rutherdale (Picture included)
Sacramento resident Alice Tamam Bassett Rutherdale died on April 16, 2011, of congestive heart failure. She was born on October 11, 1921, in Williamson, West Virginia, the fourth of six children. Her parents had both emigrated from Kfeir, Lebanon, and Alice was fluent in Arabic. While at Williamson High School, Alice was a member of the marching band and an excellent student, even while working evenings in her father's confectionary store. Alice graduated with a B.A. from Marshall College, taught music for a year in Cassopolis, Michigan, and learned to fly a plane, all before completing a Master of Music at the University of Michigan in 1944. That year Alice joined the Women Army Corps (WAC) and served as a cryptographer at the US Army Signal Intelligence Service at Arlington Hall in Virginia. While stationed there she met John Wiley Rutherdale Jr (Jack), whom she married in 1946. The couple moved to California in 1947 and settled in Los Altos, California, where they raised five children. They divorced in 1974. Alice continued to live in Los Altos until 2008, when she moved to Sacramento to be closer to family. While there she enjoyed attending weekly classical concerts, playing bridge, doing daily puzzles, and spending time with family. She will be remembered for her positive and gentle nature and her sharp mind, despite suffering from untreated schizophrenia. She was preceded in death by her parents Abraham Joseph Bassett and Rahija Saad Bassett; sisters Gladys Parlette and Waded Bofysil; son Larry Rutherdale; and former husband Jack. Alice is survived by sisters Selma Edinger of Columbus, Ohio, and Lorraine Scott of Palo Alto, California; brother Abe Bassett of Dayton, Ohio; daughters Nancy (Tom) Griffith of Sacramento; Martha (Axel) de La Soujeole of Fairview, Texas; Jan (Jeff Bush) Rutherdale of Juneau, Alaska; son Jay (Sydney) Rutherdale of Sacramento; 14 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and 11 nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, May 29 at Sierra 2 Center, 2791 24th Street, Sacramento. Donations may be made to Sutter VNA and Hospice online at: http://www.suttervnaandhospice.org/gifts/; or to Music at Noon, payable to "Westminster Presbyterian Church MAN," at 1300 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. May 29 2011 11:00 am
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Bassett Family Association Database
1921 - 2011 (89 years)