Gayle Williams Rutherford ’82

Gayle Rutherford died April 10, 2007, after a long struggle with lupus. She was 46.

Born in Buffalo, Gayle studied biology as an undergraduate and resided at Princeton Inn College (Forbes), where friends called her “Little Gayle” because of her small frame and matriculation at a youthful 17.

After earning a medical degree from Georgetown, Gayle completed a residency in ophthalmology at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Center, then a fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at the Alton S. Ochsner Medical Foundation in New Orleans. She spent several years on the staffs of Kaiser Permanente in Washington, D.C., and Retina Associates in northern Virginia before establishing a private practice in Chesapeake, Va., where she taught ophthalmology at the Eastern Virginia Medical School. She was a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and member of the American Society of Retina Specialists.

Survivors include Gayle’s husband of 17 years, Herbert Rutherford III; her parents, Darcy and Jessie Williams; three stepsisters and seven stepbrothers, including Richard L. Davis *80; and a Komondor named Maestro. Gayle’s many professional accomplishments were balanced by eclectic tastes in food and music, a passion for politics and literature, and an unrelenting devotion to family and patients that will be sorely missed.