Doris Rutherford Ewing

Doris Rutherford Ewing passed away on Thursday, March 18, 2021. She was born on March 19, 1925, in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, to John and Kathryn King Rutherford.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, James William “Bill” Ewing, and her sisters, Ruth Lorraine Rutherford , of Washington, Pennsylvania, Sarah R. Carhart, of Newark, Ohio, and Ellen R. Roesler, of Pinehurst, N.C.

She is survived by her son, Thomas C. Ewing, his wife Deanna Raih and daughter Miranda Kathleen Ewing of Nashville, Tennessee and her daughter Elizabeth E. Ewing and her husband Skip Platt of Keswick, Virginia.

Doris was a proud native of southwestern Pennsylvania, living for many years in Washington, Pennsylvania. Her mother died when she and her sisters were young and her aunts Gertrude King, Eva King, Elizabeth King and Nancy Nelson (an aunt by affection) became instrumental in the lives of Doris and her sisters.

After Doris and Bill married in 1955, they lived briefly in Chillicothe, Ohio, before moving to Lynchburg when Bill joined the Babcock & Wilcox Company, from which he eventually retired. Bill and Doris were proud to be part of the influx of nuclear scientists and their families who moved to Lynchburg in the 1950s. Doris was also happy to have made many friends among those who had called Lynchburg home for years.

Doris received her undergraduate degree from California State Teachers College (now California University of Pennsylvania) in California, Pennsylvania, and her master’s degree from the University of South Carolina. After graduating from South Carolina, she and a friend celebrated by travelling to Europe. They returned on the Queen Mary, sharing the most economical cabin available. Doris travelled as frequently as she could. Some of her most unforgettable travel memories included seeing San Francisco on her honeymoon, travelling into East Germany, seeing the Passion Play in Oberammergau, visiting Yugoslavia with her aunts, and attending the Edinburg Military Tatoo.

Doris taught mathematics at numerous schools in Lynchburg, including the Florence Crittenton Home, Linkhorne Junior High School and both E.C. Glass and Heritage High Schools. She loved to ask young people what mathematics they were studying. She was thrilled when the answer was “geometry” and sympathetic when it was “calculus”.

Doris was active in numerous local organizations including her church circles, P.E.O., and American Association of University Women (AAUW). For many years she worked on the annual AAUW Book Sale, which helped the community relocate books from one household to another. Doris had a love of gardening and an amazingly green thumb. Her homes and yards were filled with plants that she started from clippings.

No service is planned at this time because of the pandemic. For those wishing to make a memorial contribution, please consider a donation to the Lynchburg Public Library, 2315 Memorial Avenue, Lynchburg, VA 24501, or Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, imaginationlibrary.com. 

Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family.