Obituary of Irene Joan Rutledge

Irene Joan Bullick, daughter to Stan and Edna Bullick was born on November 20, 1942 in Coronation, Alberta. She grew up and attended school in Coronation before attending Olds Agricultural and Vocational College from 1962 to 1963. Irene was a council representative while there and was regarded highly in the eyes of her instructors and friends alike, always being well remembered in the years to come when attending class reunions. While growing up, Irene was quite involved in the Coronation 4-H club where she learned much about the art of conducting meetings as well as the concept of "learn to do by doing," two skills she utilized and continued to perfect throughout the rest of her life. At the time, one of her goals was to win a trip through 4-H to the Toronto Royal Winter Fair. To this end, she entered Brome Seed to gain points toward the trip. Irene and her parents hand picked individual seeds and put together several pounds for a sample. This was in fact the first time anyone had hand picked over the seed which resulted in her winning the World Brome Seed Championship two years running. It was a dream come true, as she ultimately did win a trip to the Royal Winter Fair. On September 10th, 1966, Irene married Pat Rutledge. While Pat finished his degree at the University of Alberta, they lived in Edmonton for a year and a half. During that time, they travelled to Expo 67 and had quite an adventure, camping in a car roof top camper for the entire trip. Yikes...cars must have had a whole lot more support back then! Soon after university, Pat got a job in Ottawa and the couple packed up and moved across the country. Irene worked for an office overload company and often told great stories of working at the court house. It wasn't long before the two of them headed back to Alberta where they lived on the U of A Ranch at Elerslie for two years before deciding it was time move back to the family homestead in Monitor. In 1976, Irene and Pat adopted their first child, Sean and their second, Suzanne in 1980. Irene was a wonderful mother, always sure to keep up with the kids' interests and activities while at the same time encouraging them to be independent and true to themselves. Irene loved the outdoors and seized every opportunity available to be involved in ranch activities and anything else that would keep her outside and active. In 1990, she purchased her first small flock of sheep. Raising sheep became an increasing passion of hers ever since. If asked, Irene would surely tell you that lambing season was one of her favourite times of the year; she loved everything about it, most of all, fussing over the babies. In recent years, she would take her grandsons Darrion, Laine and Hunter along to help catch lambs, loving every second of time she spent with her boys. And they always knew they could count on their Nana to have a muffin or goody waiting for them. As an adult, Irene felt she should give back and led both sewing and beef 4-H clubs for several years. She was also active in a number of community organizations and wasn’t afraid to take on leadership rolls, serving as Chairman of the Hospital Board and Ag Society for a number of years and most recently the Sheep and Wool Commission for which she served six years, two of them as Chairman. She also had much involvement with the Hospital Auxiliary and the annual play. Irene was very much a people person and could talk to anyone, seldom forgetting those she met. One of the many things often admired about Irene was her willingness to speak her mind and share her opinion even when others didn't necessarily agree. Irene enjoyed traveling; seeing new places and people. She and Pat went on several major vacations together; including trips to Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa in addition to thirty plus U.S. states. Their latest venture, occurring between cancer surgeries, was to Paris and Switzerland in the fall of 2010. Irene was pre-deceased by her parents Stan and Edna Bullick and father in law Willis Rutledge. She leaves behind her husband Pat; son Sean (Jen Wakely); daughter Suzanne (Jeremy Percival); grandsons Darrion, Laine, and Hunter Percival; mother in law Elaine Rutledge; brother in law Roy Rutledge (Debbie); nephews Frank Rutledge, Ryan Rutledge, Rocky Rutledge; sister in law Lorna Baustad (Sigard); niece Nancy Baxter (Kevin); nephew Darren Munn (Bonnie); as well as aunts, uncles and numerous cousins. Funeral services were held on Thursday May 19, 2011 in the Consort Sportex at 2:00 P.M. with the Rev. Jack Schulze officiating. Pat and Charlotte Gilmer sang two selections “Green Pastures” and “One Beautiful Day.” Judy Bishell gave a loving tribute in memory of her long time friend. The interment followed in the Monitor Cemetery, with Darrion Percival as the active pallbearer and “All of Irene’s Family and Friends” as honorary pallbearers. The luncheon was gratefully hosted by the Monitor Community Club and the Consort Community Funeral Lunch Committee. Memorial donations may be made to the Consort Hospital Auxiliary, The Alzheimer’s Society or the Alberta Cancer Foundation c/o Parkview Funeral Chapels, Box 186, Castor, AB, T0C 0X0.