Willie Richard Rutledge

HARLINGEN - Willie Richard Rutledge, 74, entered into eternal rest Saturday, January 23, 2021, at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen.
Richard graduated from Edinburg High School in 1964 and attended Pan American College. He served in the National Guard from 1966 to 1970 and was there to help the Rio Grande Valley during Hurricane Beulah in 1967. Richard had a love of horses and horseracing and sadly, gambling. He loved his Stetson hats, Wrangler dress slacks, and Vicente Fernandez. He provided for his family the best he could and was smart, funny, and will be missed.
The wind brushes away the bad and we remember the good.
He is preceded in death by his father, Guillermo Rutledge; his mother, Juanita Garza Rutledge; and a sister, Norma Rutledge Vela.
Richard is survived by his daughters, Christina L. (David Davila) Rutledge of McAllen and Carla R. Rutledge, who is currently serving in the United States Air Force; two sons, Richard Rutledge Jr. and Jovannie Solis, both of Harlingen; a sister, Victoria Rutledge Flores, and brother, Ernest (Rosalva) Rutledge, both of the Linn-San Manuel area; two grandsons, Lucas Josiah Rutledge and Diaron Alexander Solis; two granddaughters, Deborah Davila Regalado and Dina Davila Herrera; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 20, 2021, at Memorial Funeral Home, 208 E. Canton in Edinburg. Interment of cremated remains will follow at Valley Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations to be made to diabetes and Covid-19 causes.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Memorial Funeral Home in Edinburg.