Reginald “Dick” Rutledge, Jr. died at the Greenwich Hospital from complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was born in Tampa, Florida and raised as a child in Coral Gables, Florida. His parents were Reginald E. Rutledge, Sr., of Asheville, NC and Evelyn Bolling Pretlow Rutledge from Franklin, VA.
At age 14, Dick entered Episcopal High School in Alexandria, VA, and went on to graduate from the University of Virginia in the class of 1955. He became the epitome of an old-school Virginia gentleman with manners to match. He won many honors at UVA, including the Raven Award for distinction in both academics and leadership. He was captain of the tennis team and, most notably, was the first chairman of the Judiciary Committee, formed in 1954 to address a serious scandal at the university. His devotion to EHS and UVA knew no bounds. For all of his adult life, he was deeply engaged in
supporting both.
Having completed ROTC, Dick enlisted in the US Navy as an ensign in 1955. He loved the Navy and served in the Pacific for 2 years aboard the heavy cruiser USS Columbus, finishing his tour as a LTJG. Returning to the University of Virginia, he acquired a Master’s degree in business administration from the Darden School in 1959. Shortly after graduation from Darden, he married Fleming Parker from his mother’s home town
of Franklin, Va.
Dick’s first job was with IBM in its storied glory days. He began in Richmond and was promoted to be branch manager in Charlottesville, VA. where he became active at St. Paul’s Church and was the chairman of the United Giver’s Fund citywide campaign. After just two years in Charlottesville the family (now with two daughters) moved to Kingsport, TN. where Dick managed a larger branch. Those were the years of the late-sixties. The civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movements shaped the couple with an interest in social justice. Dick and Fleming were known for hosting Peace Corps volunteers, participating in protests against the Vietnam war, and supporting civil rights.
With IBM, the family made their final move to New York where they remained for the rest of Dick’s life. From his Manhattan office, where he was Manager of Management Development for IBM in the Eastern seaboard, he was known for supporting and promoting women. He was particularly committed to his program for “Managing the Young Generation” of late-sixties young professionals, a cohort now part of history. Dick took the “golden parachute” out of IBM and went to Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where he was the director of the first marketing and sales operation that any of the Big Six accounting firms had ever had. Dick travelled to Chicago each week while Fleming commuted into NYC to Grace Episcopal Church where she was part of the
clergy staff.
Dick’s third career brought him back to the East coast as Vice President of Marketing at Applied Business Technology (ABT). In 1994, Dick founded the ABT Project Leadership Conference which became the leading conference of its time for training the next generation of project managers. He took great pleasure in designing these nationwide conferences, particularly the one held in Paris.
As the founder of the leadership conferences, he learned that he was really good at finding gifted speakers, even from across the ocean. This discovery jump-started his chief occupation during his retirement. In 2025, Dick founded a ministry of gathering people in the Greenwich area to hear a powerful Christian speaker for deepening Christian faith. The program was originally designed for men especially, but there was a clamor from women who wanted to attend, so it became Faith on Fire at Christ Church Greenwich. It offered a powerful speaker each month, early in the morning with breakfast. Dick wanted to share his passion for the Gospel of redemption by the son of God, and he was committed to strengthening that Gospel in others.
His whole life was focused on others, not himself. He threw himself into the foundation and promotion of other people in his life: a science prize at EHS in his mother’s name, a memorial at UVA to a beloved tennis coach, an atrium at EHS in memory of a classmate who was a Guggenheim Fellow in physics, and a professorship now being formed in his wife’s name at Wycliffe College in Toronto, Canada. There was a deeply rooted instinct in Dick toward his fellow human beings that reminded many of what it means to be truly human in the image of God. His loyalty toward and fierce concern about his closest friends is remembered with intense gratitude by each of them.
In conclusion, Dick’s identity as a husband and father was intensely rewarding to him and central to his wife and children. He supported his daughters, cheered them on, followed their comings and goings, and introduced them to the world of business, philanthropy, The New York Times, professional tennis, the Mets, Broadway and off- Broadway theater, European travel, and above all his love of the church of Christ. His children’s love for him was something to see. As for Fleming, her fifty years as a preacher, teacher, writer, and parish priest could never have happened were it not for his intense and enduring support from the very beginning. Dick spent his life tirelessly supporting and encouraging other people. By the grace of God, he has now surely heard these words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
To honor Dick’s life, a service will be held Saturday, June 27, 2026 at 2:00pm at Christ Church, 254 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT.