Irvine Hart Rutledge ’33

Doc Rutledge died Aug. 21, 1997, in Hagerstown, Md. He was 85.

He grew up in Mercersburg, Pa., where his father taught English at Mercersburg Academy. At Princeton he was on the rifle team freshman year, and was a member of the Gun Club and of Key and Seal. He earned his law degree from George Washington U. in 1936 and practiced law with Lane Bushong and Byron in Hagerstown, Md. His practice was interrupted by a four-year tour of duty with the Army JAG in Europe.

He ended his legal career as a Circuit Court Judge. He left the bench in 1980, yet is well remembered by the Hagerstown Bar. In the words of lawyers who practiced before him: "He was polite and well read, a true gentleman judge"; "He set a standard for the judiciary in this county and beyond"; "He earned the respect of all his litigants, win or lose." In 1992 a Washington County courtroom was dedicated in his honor.

Doc was an accomplished hunter, a Civil War expert, a famed storyteller, and on occasion flew a hang glider.

His first wife, Eleanor White Rutledge, died in 1976. He is survived by his second wife, Jeanette Kaylor Rutledge, his daughter, Eleanor Lesher, his son, Henry Middleton Rutledge V '66, and two stepdaughters, Jane Byler Stroot and Ann Byler Boone, to all of whom we extend our sympathy.

The Class of 1933