Joe Eddie Rutledge was born June 7th,1940 in Sprotts, Alabama to Jasper and Minnie Rutledge. Eddie's parents relocated to Fairfield when he was a baby. He was a chip off the old family block! He had close physical resemblance to his father, and the two of them became a great pair. Some of his siblings would spend the summer with their grandparents in Sprotts, but not Eddie. Mr. Rutledge kept him close to his side to do chores for him. Eddie, until this day, would say, "Mom should have given me my Dad's name, instead of giving it to my youngest brother." Eddie was the fourth son.

The two famous schools in Fairfield were Robinson Elementary and St. Mary's Catholic School. Rev. Williams invited pastors from the north to preach some of his revivals. Eddie and his sister, Dorothy, joined church during one of those revivals, and both were baptized in the robes basement pool at First Baptist Church. The baptizing robes were made by their mother. Vacation Bible School was free in this church, and it also had fun-filled trips-providing summer activities for the youth in the community.

Our quick response when the question was asked how many are in your family was easy. We quipped a response: "We come cheaper by the dozen-six boys and six girls!" Like many of the families on Interurban Heights, we prepared ourselves on Saturday night for church attendance on Sunday.

We were like many families in the community during the 1940's and 1950's, working together and helping each other to survive in the Fairfield Village. Parents in the community worked cooperatively, to nurture children. Children were taught to respect their elders, speak kindly to people as they travelled through the community, and to conduct themselves, in keeping with the community ethos. All adults had the responsibility to discipline children, and to chastise them in love, to guide them to care about the elderly, sick, and the less fortunate. Children were encouraged to do their best work in school. They inspired the children to keep hope alive! The community philosophy was, "One could work hard, live by God's Ten Commandments, be

respectful, and be obedient to the teachers' to change the trajectory of their lives. The teachers of the community, often said, "Where you are right now, does not prevent you from changing your life. God is able to mold and shape you to use the gifts He placed in you at birth, therefore, you keep the faith, keep on working hard, and God will bless you, as you travel life's journey." With this inspiration, the youth kept hope alive, and continued to strive for excellence. They were not just working for themselves, but were working to make parents, teachers, principals, the community proud, and to lead the pathway for others to follow.

Eddie graduated from Robinson Elementary and became the family's first to graduate from Fairfield Industrial High School. His sister, Dorothy, assisted him with his fare to get to New York, where he found employment in that City. In return for this kindness, he invited her to come live with him each summer, to work, and to earn money to complete college at Tuskegee. With this insight, Eddie took the family lead to inspire his younger siblings to pursue college careers. This was the ethos in the Fairfield community "boot strap to help others to succeed." In his early adult years, he was employed at Midtown Hospital in Manhattan, New York. After thirty years, he relocated to Las Vegas where he lived and worked. After a decade or so he relocated to Montana where he worked in the Montana school system. This cold climate gave him a sense of belonging, with a cadre of people, who valued western living. He had his own cowboy boots, shirts and other paraphernalia. He returned to Fairfield in 2005.

New York was coined as his home. No one loved this City like, brother Eddie. I think he thought he could put the lights out in New York. But when "old man time" began slipping upon him, he lifted his tongue to tell a different story. As the years multiplied, and as he watched so many of his friends answer roll call, the great feeling in the City was not the same. In a sense, the lights were sparkling and great, but he realized without the friends, the lights did not mean very much.

He spent the 1990s working in Las Vegas. Interestingly enough, despite the fact that he worked in those casinos, he never developed a gambling habit. In fact, he shunned the casinos as a form of entertainment.

During his teen years, he and Bernie Wade Ford made their ping pong table and enjoyed playing ping pong every day-these were the self-reliant gifts of kids during this era creative with making their own toys. He worked with his father in farming land outside the city limits of Fairfield, where our father grew crops of fresh vegetables to supplement the family food budget. With the combined skills of his father working at Fairfield Steel and farming a piece of land outside the City limits, and his wife using her various skills, seamtress, raising chickens, and a garden-the united family, like other families during this time period, were able to survive with their large families. Prayer was the sustenance that kept the people united as a family under God. As a prayer family, Jasper and Minnie Rutledge were blessed to see children and grandchildren become college graduates.

Eddie married a lovely lady, Gussye Kennedy of Camden Alabama, a graduate of Selma University from Camden-preceded him in 1974. Upon retirement, Eddie returned to Fairfield. A visitation will be held on Friday,August 4,2023 from 1pm to 4pm at Valhalla Funeral Home. Celebration of life services will be held Saturday,August 5th,2023 11am in the chapel of Valhalla Funeral with burial following in Valhalla Cemetery.