Lennie McGowan Rutz, my mother, had several great loves in her life: Good food (mostly her own), her mother, her husband, and good television (none of that silly stuff, and definitely no weird sci-fi junk) [Her words, not mine]. No list of the things she truly, wholly loved would be complete without mentioning music.
There are only two men on the planet for whom she hopped a flight to another continent. She married one, and she has posters of the other hanging in her living room. Sorry, Dave, but Hozier makes for better decorations and superior songs. (Phil Philips, if you’re out there, don’t fret, she loved you, too, but not everybody can be number one in her eyes).
I was her favorite child, of that I’m sure, so I’ll take that win, even if I didn’t have any competition. (It’s fair, since she was my favorite Mom). While I don’t have my face on a poster hanging in her living room, I know she raised me well and that I made her proud. I think of her every time I cook dinner; we regularly spoke on the phone when I was in the kitchen. She’d offer advice or mockery as appropriate, and I’d always be smiling when we ended our conversations.
We had our last face to face talk on January 17, 2025. Lennie McGowan Rutz passed away at St. Joseph’s Hospital after a slow, steady decline in health. Before she left us, she had a life filled with world travel and dear friends. She leaves behind a husband, Dave, with whom she lived in Switzerland for many years before bringing him back home to Brooklet. His parents, Pierre and Shirly Rutz, joined him a few years later and they still live next door. Her son, Clay Ketterman, lives with his wife Rebekah in Forsyth, Georgia, and he will miss those dinner prep chats dearly. Her niece, Alli Fordham and her children, Brayleigh and Kyleigh, in Metter, will forever mourn the loss of “Aunty BoomBoom Pow.”
Not a day went by that my Mom didn’t miss her mother, Ailene Forehand McGowan. Lennie was also preceded in death by her sister, Dena McGowan Fordham, her aunt, Audrey Forehand Guido, and her grandmother, Donie Davis Forehand, as well as her beloved great-nephew Cecil "Edwin" Chance.
An informal service will be held at Joiner-Anderson Funeral home in Statesboro on Saturday, Jan. 25 from 1-2 p.m. Any family and close friends who will miss her are encouraged to come and tell us a story to make us all smile.
Graveside services will follow at Old Fellowship Baptist Church on Hwy. 80, near Stilson. I know for a fact that Mom would rather y’all not spend any money on flowers. Instead, she’d tell you to go out and have a nice meal with someone you care about instead, reminiscing about the good times spent together.
Friends may sign the online register book at www.joineranderson.com
Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home & Crematory of Statesboro is in charge of arrangements.
Statesboro Herald, January 19, 2025
Sign the Legacy online guestbook at www.statesboroherald.com.