Nov. 23, 1928-Oct. 20, 2003
Heaven became a richer place with the passing of Frank Hird-Rutter.
Frank was truly a renaissance man. He held degrees in mathematics, economics, theology and everything in between. He was an artist, writer, philosopher and a scribe.
He was a man of integrity, who as a journalist would choose incarceration rather than revealing his sources.
He was a man of honour who served his Queen as a commissioned officer in all three of her forces before he was 30.
He was a sage who knew that knowledge without the wisdom to apply it, was worthless knowledge.
He knew the most valuable gift in the world was the gift of a smile, and handed them out with regularity.
He would give a job to the jobless, open his home to the homeless, and give his heart to the heartless.
As a Pastor a grieving man came to him, upset that he had no suit to wear to his sister’s funeral. Frank took a suit from his own closet, a shirt and tie from his drawer and a pair of shoes from under the bed and gave them to the grieving man. When Frank’s wife May asked if he had given the things away or just loaned them, Frank’s reply was simply “I guess it depends on how long he needs them.’’
His infinite love for people close to him was witnessed daily as he walked hand in hand with his wife of 53 years, as he still opened the door to the car for her and as he still held her chair for her.
The love they shared blossomed into five new families and 14 grandchildren, all of them blessed to have him in their lives, all of them proud to be his son, daughter, or grandchild.
His love for others was evident in the extended family he would create, people he met along the way, people he shared his home with, his meals with, his heart with. Frank knew to be successful in life you must balance knowledge, emotions, and faith, an art he had mastered.
He brushed the lives of millions of people, with his writings, his teachings, and his devotion. All who have been touched by him are truly blessed.
He will be missed, but never forgotten.