Juanita Berger Rutland, beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away Aug. 12, 2013. She was 96.
Rabbi Steven Rubenstein and Cantor Martin Goldstein officiated at the Aug. 13 graveside service at Mt. Nebo Cemetery. Cantor Joel Lichterman was also in attendance. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
Juanita was a caring, gentle and soft-spoken woman, the family said. She loved swimming, traveling, collecting stamps, embroidery, knitting and crocheting.
Above all, her greatest joy was her family.
Juanita was born in 1917 to Eva and Isadore Berger. She grew up in the West Side and attended Colfax and Cheltenham Elementary Schools.
Her father died when she was five, and her mother remarried. Because there was not enough room in the house for her stepfathers dental practice, Juanita and her sister Martha lived and studied at Loretta Heights Academy.
In the eighth grade, she moved back home and attended Lake Junior and North High.
Juanita earned a degree as an education teacher at the Colorado State College of Education, now UNC.
She taught in the town of Boone for several years and then at Cole Junior High in Denver. She later worked at the Bureau of Reclamation at Lowry Field doing cost accounting.
During WW II, Juanita was hired to teach at a new school for airmen at Lowry AFB.
She married Morris Rutland on July 17, 1949.
Juanita held many positions in NCJW and Hadassah, including president of the Masada Group. She was also active in the PTA.
She helped raise funds to develop the JCC at its current location and was instrumental in raising money for Shalom Park, where she resided the last year of her life.
Juanita Rutland is survived by her son Irwin and daughters Gail (Stephen) Schomay and Barbara (Dennis) Mendelsberg, both of Denver; grandchildren Jeffery (Michele) Schomay, Theodore Schomay, Audrey (Cole) Rogers; Brian (Mary) Mendelsberg and Shayna (Alex) Reiman; and great-grandson Jacob Mendelsberg.
Copyright © 2013 by the Intermountain Jewish News
