Sister Lizabeth Rutherford

COLORADO SPRINGS—Sister Lizabeth Rutherford, OSF, daughter of the late Perry and Rita Rutherford of Los Alamos, New Mexico, has been elected to the leadership team for the Saint Joseph Province of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Perpetual Adoration whose administrative headquarters reside at Mount Saint Francis in Colorado Springs.

The Rutherfords were members of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Alamos. Lizabeth graduated from Los Alamos High School in 1964 and joined the Sisters of Saint Francis in Colorado Springs in 1966. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in 1971 from the former College of Saint Joseph on the Rio Grande in Albuquerque, which was sponsored by the Franciscans at that time. In 1974, she earned an MA in Special Education from the University of New Mexico and in 1989 was awarded an MA in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley.

For more than 25 years, Sister Lizabeth ministered as a Special Education teacher in treatment centers and schools and served as a Certified Therapeutic Education Specialist in Albuquerque, Denver and Westminster, Colo.  From 1989 to 2000, she served as a crime victim advocate and as a domestic violence court advocate for Jefferson County, Colo.

In 2000, Sister Lizabeth returned to Los Alamos to care for her mother when her mother and two of her brothers lost their homes in the Cerro Grande Fire. For the past 14 years, Sister Lizabeth has managed the Oppenheimer Place Condominiums.