Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
A key player in the life of the community – especially the Cobourg and Cramahe communities – has died suddenly on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 just days after his 62nd birthday.
Alex Rutherford was known to so many through so many avenues, be it sports, business or civics projects.
As owner of Rutherford Financial Services in downtown Cobourg, he could often be found behind the scenes with the late Bill Patchett, involved with such ventures as the Canada Day celebrations in Victoria Park. But his roots were in Cramahe Township, and they spread deep and wide.
“He was a very active supporter and proponent for Cramahe Township, and also of Northumberland County,” Cramahe Township Mayor Mandy Martin recalled.
“Everybody knows the Rutherford family,” Martin added.
Alex Rutherford (once known as Curly) once ran the ambulance service in Colborne, which he took over from his father. His sister Peggy (once known as Tulip) now runs Rutherflo school buses, the name honouring their mother Flo. And his brother Pat (once known as Snapper) is with Lynch Rutherford Tozer accountants in Port Hope.
One person who was there for the early years is Mary Ainsworth, a kind of foster sister to the family who grew up alongside the Rutherford kids, and was as involved as any of them in their various pursuits.
And for young Alex, she said, it didn’t get much better than fastball. They ran the men’s fastball league, which played Tuesday and Thursday nights for 20 years. It inspired Alex to utter a tagline that always seemed to come up when his name was mentioned: Fastball is the game – rock and roll.
“We used to have tournaments at the park where we would have music. It was always loud music. We called it the Rock-and-Roll Tournament,” Ainsworth recalled.
“He had actually hosted a lot of the OASA fastball tournaments for the kids and for the men, and he had a men’s fastball team. We travelled all over Ontario with the OASA,” Ainsworth said.
Martin recalls how excited Rutherford was with her winning the 2018 election and what it could mean for the township. He seized this momentum and founded an organization called Cramahe Strong, with all kinds of plans for projects that would unify the township as a larger entity that would be stronger together.
Ainsworth recalled some of these projects, such as fastball games that raised money that was to go back into sports.
“That was his main objective,” she stated.
“He supported what they call BLT – baseball, lawn bowling and tennis. He was in the process of getting grants to rejuvenate the lawn bowling club and pour more money back into the diamonds.”
That would be the diamonds at Memorial Park (former site of the old Colborne Arena), which were a big focus for him.
“We actually got out and raised money and built the canteen at Memorial Park,” she added.
“Along the creek bed here in Colborne, he wanted to put an ecology garden – the Gail Moffatt/Flo Ecology Garden.”
This project would have honoured a beloved teacher at Colborne Public School and, of course, his mother.
“In the main ballpark, Colborne Creek runs through it. On the other side, we had cleared it out for walking trails for dogs, because he loved dogs. He had boxers all the time. It was his tribute to Gail and his mom, and for the betterment of the dogs and the walkers.
“We also had a part in building the Suzie Kernaghan trail along the other side of the creek, bridging the old arena property to the subdivision with a trail.”
This project honours a very young teacher at Cobourg’s Terry Fox Public School – the sister of a friend of Rutherford’s – who was killed in a traffic accident on Highway 28 in 2009.
“Alex was a great man to come up with ideas, and he would get the rest of us to follow along with them.
“He was always about sports and bettering the community of Colborne and others.”
Much of this work was behind the scenes, she noted.
“He was always going to council, and was very big on getting Trillium Grants and help for the community projects. He had all kinds of connections, and he would go after the money – not just the baseball, but other community projects.
“He was the guy behind the scenes, but it was all for the betterment of the community.”
Rutherford helped shape the community in so many ways, Ainsworth said, including his time running the ambulance service.
“He hired a lot of young kids who are now local paramedics in Northumberland County,” she pointed out.
“He loved this community,” Martin stated.
“He was very kind, always doing things for others.
“He wanted things for the community, and he wanted to put it on the map.”
Rutherford was predeceased by his sister Susie and his parents Alexander and Florian. He is survived by his wife Cheryl and daughter Shelby, as well as daughter Sydney (Cory) and grandson Micky, along with brother Pat and sisters Cindy, Peggy and Paulie.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
