Doreen Elizabeth Rutherford

Doreen Elizabeth Rutherford passed away peacefully at Deloraine Health Centre on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, on her 81st birthday.

Doreen was born in 1944 at Portage la Prairie while her father was serving overseas during WWII. After the war, they moved to a farm in the Belses District north of Melita, where her brothers, Bruce and Ron were born. She attended Belses School until Grade 9 and completed her high school in Melita.

Doreen attended the University of Manitoba, earning a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree and a Teaching Certificate. She taught high school for two years in Eden and Winnipeg, and then moved to Toronto to take Library Sciences at the University of Toronto. She enjoyed her career as a librarian at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, working on the Reference Desk and then moving on to the Cataloguing Department. Doreen also enjoyed travelling in Canada with her extended family, as well as taking numerous trips abroad.

Upon her retirement in 2004, Doreen decided to return to her roots and bought an acreage two miles from the home farm where Ron and Pat were farming. She stayed in her country home for 13 years, enjoying her substantial book collection, gardening, her pet cats, and walks on her property.

Her next relocation was to the Melita Lodge in 2017, until her health compelled her to move to the Melita Personal Care Home in 2022.

Doreen was predeceased by her parents Bert and Dorothy (nee Phillips) Rutherford, and her brother Bruce.

Doreen is survived by her brother Ron (Pat) Rutherford, her nephew Grant (Min) Rutherford, and their children Tristan and Dylan, and her nieces Christine (Graham) Poole, and Alana Rutherford (Adam Scarth), as well as numerous cousins.

Doreen loved learning and spent a lifetime reading extensively. She was very generous, supporting numerous charities. Doreen was also generous with her time, making frequent trips back to Manitoba to spend time with her parents, brother and sister-in-law, and her nephew and nieces.

A private memorial ceremony has taken place.

Donations in memory of Doreen may be made to a charity of your choice.

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