Funeral services for Clifford Rutland were conducted at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, at Victory Baptist Church with interment following in the Doublechurch Cemetery, next to the church in Bassfield.  Dr. Nathan Barber and Rev. Mike Aultman officiated. 

Visitation was held Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Victory Baptist Church in Bassfield.

Serving as pallbearers were Allen Sumrall, Herman Sumrall, Tony Rutland, Stacy Rutland, Drew Clark and Jay Hauenstein.  Honorary pallbearers included Jeffrey Newell, Joseph Newell, Brannan Newell, Tony McAlister, Neil English and Richard Doss.

Andrew Clifford Rutland, 92, left this life peacefully on Sept. 16, 2023 at his home with his daughters by his side.  Born Nov. 24, 1930, in Jefferson Davis County, he was the fifth of eight children born to James Andrew and Lucy Herrin Rutland.

He was a 1950 graduate of Bassfield High School where he played both basketball and football while working at Kings’ Grocery and helping with the family farm.  After graduation, he moved to Hattiesburg with his new bride, Mary Haddox, and worked briefly at Petro Neighborhood Grocery before spending the next 38 years at Hercules Inc., retiring in 1991.  He was inducted into the Mississippi Credit Union Hall of Fame in 2016 after volunteering for 35 years with the Pine Belt Federal Credit Union (formerly the Hercules Credit Union), serving on the Board of Directors for 32 of those years.

During the 29 years residing in Hattiesburg, he spent every free minute and weekend at the farm tending to his cows and one-acre garden, growing enough vegetables to fill all his family’s freezers and to share with his friends and neighbors.  They moved back home in 1979 to the farm where he was born and raised in Bassfield.  He loved being outdoors and could be found riding around the pastures and community in his Mule side-by-side, stopping to talk and tell stories to anyone who would listen.

Cliff loved the Lord and served Him as deacon and numerous other positions through the years at the church he was raised and baptized in, Victory Baptist Church.  He also served in various positions at Nineteenth Avenue Baptist Church and Glendale Baptist Church while residing in Hattiesburg.

He is preceded in death by his wife of over 73 years, Mary Haddox Rutland and his daughter Joyce Rutland Newell; his parents James Andrew and Lucy Herrin Rutland; sisters Essie Mae Sumrall, Frances Esther Clark, Vondee Jackson, and Marjorie Nell Hauenstein; brothers James Edward Rutland and Louie Walton Rutland.

He is survived by his daughters Jackie Rutland Lott of Bassfield and Sandy Rutland McAlister (Tony) of Hattiesburg; grandchildren Jeffrey Newell (Tracie) of Guntown (MS), Joseph Newell (Teletha) of Tupelo (MS), Leslie Lott of Metairie (Louisiana), and Andrew Lott (Jaici) of Oxford (AL); great-grandsons Brannan Newell of Guntown (MS) and Finn Lott of Oxford (AL); his last surviving sibling Doris Clark Davis of Tupelo (MS); and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Donations may be made to the Double Church Cemetery, 1015 Sumrall Road, Bassfield, MS 39421.

The family would like to thank the staff at Forrest General Hospice for the loving care shown to both Mr. Cliff and Mrs. Mary as well as the unwavering support to their daughters (the caregivers) during this difficult time.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” – John 3:16

Online condolences and a guest registry are available at www.saultersmoorefuneralhome.com.