The funeral service for both Edward and Marian Rutter will be on Thursday, July 14, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, Alexandria, Minnesota.
The committal service and burial for both Edward and Marian will be on Friday, July 15, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. at Prairie View Cemetery, Wimbledon, North Dakota where their twins, David and Daniel, are buried, and where they will await the Coming of the Lord Jesus.
Edward John Rutter was born on April 19, 1921, on a farm in China Township, St. Clair County, Michigan. He was the firstborn child of his parents, Allan Edward Rutter and Emma Marie (Alexy) Rutter. He was brought to baptism and became a member of God’s family on June 12, 1921, baptized by Pastor M. L. Baseler of St. Peter Lutheran Church in St. Clair. Edward lived the first nine years of his life in and around the city of Detroit, Michigan. In 1930, his family moved to a small farm near North Branch, Michigan, where he continued his education in a one-room country school, and at North Branch High School where he graduated in 1939. He and his brother, Allan, were confirmed in St. Paul Lutheran Church of Lapeer, Michigan, on June 5, 1938. In 1940, Edward and his brother, Allan, entered Lawrence Tech in Detroit, pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering.
In June 1942, Ed and his brother, Allan, enlisted in the US Army Air Force, and were called to active duty in March of 1943. They were commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants and became pilots, Ed of B-24 and Al of B-29 heavy bombers.
Ed served in Europe, completing 33 combat missions over Germany. Al served in the Pacific theater, completing 15 combat missions over Japan. His brother, Allan, and his crew were shot down over Tokyo on a low-level mission on May
25, 1945.
Ed married Marian E. Jagow, a member of the same 1938 confirmation class, on June 8, 1946, in St. Paul Lutheran Church, Lapeer, Michigan, by Pastors O. Graesser and A. Jehn. Ed began working for J.O. Ross Engineering in Detroit. He completed his engineering studies in night school where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree.
In September of 1949, Ed and Marian decided to heed the call to the Holy Ministry. They moved with their firstborn son, Allan, to Springfield, Illinois, where he attended Concordia Theological Seminary, graduating in June 1954 with a
Bachelor of Theology degree. A second son, Mark, and a daughter, Janet, were born there in Springfield.
Ed and Marian and their family moved to Wimbledon, North Dakota, where on July 25, 1954, he was ordained into the pastoral ministry of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and installed as the pastor of his first parish, St. Paul Lutheran Church of Wimbledon, and Zion Lutheran Church of Courtenay, North Dakota. In 1957, Pastor Rutter began serving St. Paul Lutheran Church, of Kensal as vacancy pastor. This congregation then called him as pastor, and he continued to serve the three congregations until 1964. Four more sons were added to Pastor Ed and Marian’s family while they were at Wimbledon, Steven in 1957, stillborn twins, David and Daniel, in 1960, and Robert, in 1962.
In September of 1964, Pastor Rutter accepted the call to Immanuel Lutheran Church of Wahpeton, North Dakota, where he served for 12 years. Their daughter, Laurie, was born into their family in 1968. In 1976, Pastor Rutter accepted the call to Lynch Immanuel Lutheran Church, next to the Minot Air Force Base, where he served as pastor for 9 years. In 1985, he accepted the call to serve Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Lidgerwood, North Dakota, where he served as pastor for 6 years.
During his ministry, Pastor Rutter also served the North Dakota District of the Synod as District Secretary, District Youth Pastoral Advisor, 1957-1967, Circuit Counselor of the New Rockford and the Southeast Circuits, Chairman of the District Board of Education, 2nd and 1st Vice President, several district camp staff positions, and Dean of LSV Encounter 1965 to 1979. He was a pastoral delegate to synodical conventions in New York in 1967, New Orleans in 1973, St. Louis in 1981, and Wichita in 1989, and on the Synodical Nominating Committee in 1995.
Ed and Marian retired in June 1991, and they moved to Wahpeton, North Dakota, where they lived for 26 years until April 2017 when they moved to Ortonville, Minnesota. Ed and Marian eventually moved into Fairway View
Neighborhoods — Marian in February 2018 and Ed in November 2018 — where they resided until their deaths. Marian died on March 21, 2020, during the Covid closures of the nursing home and Edward died on June 16, 2022.
Edward J. Rutter is survived by his children: Allan (Julie) of Cyrus, Minnesota, Mark (Judy) of Yankton, South Dakota, Janet O’Neill (Dennis) of Ortonville, Minnesota, Steven (Sandra) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Robert (Jennifer) of Zumbrota, Minnesota, and Laurie Krueger (Jim) of Alexandria, Minnesota; 17 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren (with one more due in November).
Preceding him in death are his wife, Marian, his parents, his brother, Allan, his sister, Shirley Klein, his sons, David and Daniel, and his first grandchild, Rebecca Faith Rutter.
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