Betty Rutherford, wife of three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Johnny Rutherford, and a significant force in racing related charities died Sunday at Westmore Memory Care. She was 80.
“We’re all very saddened about the passing of Betty Rutherford. From the minute she and Johnny met at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1963 when he was an Indy 500 rookie and she was a student nurse in the infield medical center, Betty has been a beloved member of the racing community,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles said in a statement.
Mrs. Rutherford was born Jan. 12, 1939, in Osgood, Indiana. The Rutherfords married July 7, 1963.
Survivors include her husband; one son, John Rutherford, IV and wife, Kara, and their son, John, V.; and one daughter, Angela Price and her five sons, Conner, Evan, Grant, Joseph and Alex.
Visitation is scheduled 6 p.m.-8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 24 at Greenwood Chapel, 3100 White Settlement Road, Fort Worth. The funeral is scheduled at 1:30 p.m., Friday, Jan 25, at Greenwood Independence Chapel.
The obituary suggested memorials to Speedway Children’s Charities at Texas Motor Speedway.