Hank H. Rutherford saved HaroId C. Ewald from being shot, Dexter, Michigan, January 15, 1970. Ewald, 58, accompanied by another deputy sheriff, was driving a sedan with Rutherford, 18, and another prisoner, both shackled, occupying the rear seat. The other prisoner, who in some way had freed his hands, threatened the deputy with a knife and ordered Ewald to stop the automobile. In the confusion that followed, the deputy was stabbed and then shot in a struggle over his revolver; and a stab wound also was inflicted on Ewald, who shot the prisoner. The latter, having obtained the other deputy’s revolver, shot Ewald. After again shooting the prisoner, Ewald began to back out of the sedan. The prisoner pointed his revolver at Ewald’s head. Fearing Ewald would be killed, Rutherford, still shackled, lunged against the prisoner and pushed him away from Ewald, who got out of the automobile. As Rutherford was leaving the vehicle, the prisoner shot him and then fled in a truck he commandeered. Ewald and Rutherford recovered from their wounds, but the other deputy died.
51174 – 5969
51174-5969Obituary
Hank H. Rutherford, 51, died on May 30, 2002, following an extended illness. He was born on April 6, 1951 in Hopkinsville, Ky. In 1973, he was awarded the Carnegie Medal for saving the life of a Washtenaw County, Mich., deputy sheriff.
He spent the last 17 years of his life in Brandon, Fla.
Funeral services were held on June 3, 2002, at Stark Funeral Service/Moore Memorial Chapel in Ypsilanti, Mich. Burial followed in Knollwood Memorial Park.
(Edited from an obituary in the Ann Arbor News, June 1, 2002)