Regina Faye Rutherford

Regina Faye Rutherford was born in Closplint, Kentucky on September 3rd, 1932, to Alexander Rutherford and Ethel Sasser Rutherford. She had two brothers, Robert Edward Rutherford and Charles William Rutherford and one sister, Betty Lou Halcomb. She spent her growing up years living between Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. As a child of the depression era, in her own words, her "childhood years were rather bland, we were poor, so did not get to do too many activities. I do however have fond memories of going to Grandma Rutherford's for Sunday Dinner." Here she would play with her 20 cousins, throwing tobacco stalks, jumping in the buckwheat bin, jumping from the hay loft or making paper dolls from the Sears Robuck's catalog. She considered herself "Uptown" when her folks felted the outhouse seat and they purchased Ivory soap instead of the homemade lye bars that burned the skin.

During the second World War, she remembered helping in the war effort. As she said, every dime they had went to war bond stamps. She helped collect scrap metal, old rubber tires, and milk weed pods. She was very proud of her patriotic efforts as a child. In 1944 to help with the war effort, her family moved to San Francisco, so her father and stepmother could work at a war plant. After a year, her father joined the Cee Bees and was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii. The rest of the family moved back to Paris Crossing, Indiana.

In 1949 she met Rodney Ray Sturgill in Evarts, Kentucky. The two fell madly in love and were married in November 1950. She was blessed with two children, Dorlan Lee "Chuck" Sturgill and Debra Ann. Tragically her husband would pass right before Debra's birth in 1955. In 1958 she vacationed in Montana and fell in love with the state. In 1960 she would pack up her children and move to Virginia City, Montana.

While living in Virginia City, from 1960 to 1970 she worked for the Richman family at the Madisonian learning how to use the old press equipment from 1917. After marrying her second husband Harold Griffin, the family drove the Alcan Highway to Fairbanks, Alaska, so Harlod could work on the Alcan Pipeline. She moved from Fairbanks, Alaska to Mount Vernon, Washington 7 years later.

In 1979 she decided to move back to Virginia City, Montana where she took a job working at the VC café. When the café closed in 1990, Joanne Erdall hired her to work at the Thompson-Hickman Library. She worked there for the next 21 years. Retiring in 2012 at the age of 80. She cherished her time at the library. She loved seeing the town's people and all the children at the library. She was proud to be able to learn computer skills and attended various classes put on by the state library during her time there.

After retirement, she spent her time with family and friends. She loved quilting and those that were blessed with a quilt knew it was made with love just for them. Faye had a deep love of the lord and enjoyed studying the bible. On June 2, 2025, after a long fulfilling life, she went to be with the lord.

Faye is preceded in death by her parents Alexander Rutherford and Ethel Sasser Rutherford, her brother Charles Rutherford, her husband Rodney Sturgill, her daughter Debra Ann Sturgill, and countless friends and family members.

She is survived by her son, Dorlan "Chuck" Sturgill (Karla), her brother Robert Rutherford, her sister Betty Halcomb, her grandchildren, Rodney Sturgill, Jamie Sturgill-Tronson (Ken), Christopher Sturgill (Kristee), and Timothy Sturgill, her great grandchildren, Colin Sturgill (Brittney), Tyler Sturgill, Hailee Street (Jeff), Madison Adams, Trent Sturgill, Zoey Sturgill, Jayce Sturgill, Jamison Sturgill, Benjamin Brown, Adrianna Brown, Virginia Sturgill, and Asher Sturgill. Her hope was to one day meet a great-great grandchild, she was blessed to have three, Weston Sturgill, Waylon Sturgill and William Gary.

Graveside services will be held at the Virginia City cemetery on August 2nd, 2025 at 11:00am. Potluck to follow at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Virginia City. Please bring a side or salad to share. In lieu of flowers, the family asks you to send monetary donations in Faye's honor to the Thompson-Hickman Library P.O. Box 128, Virginia City, MT 59755.