Young crash victim from Arlington recalled as outgoing, unafraid
ARLINGTON — When she was in high school, Rhianna Rutledge spontaneously grabbed her mother’s hand as they strolled the shopping mall.
“I said, ‘Rhianna, aren’t you afraid your friends are going to see you holding my hand?’?” her mother, Rose Rutledge, recalled. “She said, ‘I don’t care, Mama.’?”
That was Rhianna Rutledge’s style: expressive, outgoing and unafraid. Her family and friends spent the weekend swapping stories and memories, after her death in a car accident on Christmas Eve. The family’s two-story home was filled with flowers and snapshots glued to posterboards, many of them dropped off before the family got home.
“We have a stronger appreciation for her life and its worth because she touched a lot of people who we hadn’t even expected,” said her father, Reginald Rutledge Sr. “To lose a daughter or son is one of those things you really aren’t even able to put into words. Your heart is just totally broken — all the dreams you have for that kid are just totally thrown out the window. That’s when we have to draw strength from each other.”
The Rutledge family was driving from Arlington to Tennessee when a rainstorm struck outside Arkadelphia, Ark. Rhianna, 18, was asleep in the back seat of the family’s Acura MDX when the vehicle hydroplaned on Interstate 30 and crashed, Reginald Rutledge said. She was ejected.
Reginald Rutledge said he found his daughter 50 feet away and tried to revive her. The rest of the family escaped with cuts and bruises. Rhianna Rutledge’s organs were donated, her parents said.
She was born in Arlington and lived in the same house until she left for Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
Reginald Rutledge Sr., an engineer, is also known for building scale models of football stadiums that fit around vintage miniature electric football games. His models have been sold around the country. Rose Rutledge is a financial manager at AT&T. Rhianna Rutledge’s brother, Reginald Jr., is a junior at Bowie High school.
Rhianna Rutledge built close relationships with her family: father-daughter events, movies with her mom and a shared love of anime with her brother.
She graduated in 2009 from Bowie High School’s International Baccalaureate program, played violin in the orchestra, was a setter on the volleyball team and was active in Cornerstone Baptist Church.
“She was an ordinary kid who did extraordinary things,” said her aunt Dovie Coleman.
Rhianna Rutledge was a premedical student at Tech, which allowed her to spend time at the Health Science Center in Lubbock.
Typically, her last days at home were a whirl: She saw the latest Twilight movie with her mother, grabbed lunch with friends and went to a church service project with her family.
“She just had a great spirit,” her mother said.
Her funeral is scheduled for Jan. 2 with Wade Funeral Home in Arlington.
MIKE LEE, 817-390-7539
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