Friends and family members of Joe Rutherford, the longtime opinion page editor for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, gathered at First Presbyterian Church in Tupelo Thursday to honor the beloved newspaperman, who died Tuesday at the age of 69.
Rutherford, a native of Corinth and graduate of the University of Mississippi, started working at the Daily Journal in 1972, serving as a beat reporter for Alcorn, Union and Tippah counties. He moved up the company ladder to area editor, managing editor and, finally, editorial page editor.
Gentlemanly, warm and principled, Rutherford crafted editorials that reflected a deep commitment to community service, advocated for public education and eschewed divisive political partisanship.
“He had a tremendous depth of knowledge across multiple fields,” said Daily Journal reporter Michaela Gibson Morris, who worked with Rutherford for 20 years before his retirement. “He was a walking encyclopedia for information in particular on Tupelo and Northeast Mississippi and on Mississippi politics in general.
“In 2000, as I moved into a new role as a health reporter, he was very helpful in steering me to the right sources, especially if the story involved the intersection of medicine and politics. ‘Joe Rutherford suggested I call you’ often proved to be magic words.”
Beth Bunch worked with Rutherford at the Daily Journal before becoming managing editor for Hattiesburg Publishing, which publishes the Hattiesburg Post, the Petal News and the Lamar Times. She described him as “a journalistic icon” who “stood fast in his beliefs and would argue his point until the bitter end. He had a jovial laugh and enjoyed having a good time. He enjoyed nothing better than getting together with a group of friends—to share a meal and laughter. He was truly a friend to all.”
Rutherford was a dedicated Ole Miss fan who frequently attended home games in the Grove. He was also a mentor to the newspaper’s young journalists, according to Bunch and Morris.
“He was very encouraging to me and other members of the reporting staff,” Morris recalled. “He would drop by my cubicle to tell me, ‘Good story,’ punctuating his praise with two taps on the top rail.”
Above all, Rutherford believed in the Daily Journal and the city of Tupelo. In a podcast for The Memo made before he retired, he noted that the newspaper was “founded on the best possible principles. It has the progressive idea that benefits everyone who wants to make a contribution. And in terms of Tupelo, there is just not a better place to live in the state of Mississippi. There are so many strengths to this community, and it is just quite a wonderful town. I will stand up for Tupelo and the Daily Journal for the rest of my days because it shaped my life and made me happy.”
Watch the full video of The Memo podcast interview below:
Rick Hynum is editor-in-chief of HottyToddy.com. Email him at rick.hynum@hottytoddy.com.
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