Frankie Miller Madden Rutledge

1947 - 2019

FRANKIE MILLER MADDEN RUTLEDGE September 8, 1947 - May 30, 2019 Youngest of four children. Daughter to Sid and Nell Miller. Sister to Penny, Becky and Greg. Wife to Joe. Mother to Clint and Matt. Grandmother to Sean, Kyle, Morgan, Savannah, Lauren and Brynn. Mentor and friend - Frankie treated friends as family and family as friends, creating balance by harmonizing the demands of career and family. Frankie's early years were spent with her birth family in Idaho until her father changed his career path from jazz musician to school teacher and moved Frankie and her mother to Westwood, CA. Her two sisters and brother had already left home and started families of their own. Frankie was very active at her new school - cheerleader, drummer in the band, student government. Frankie's college plans for Chico State were disrupted by her mother's unexpected death during her senior year of high school, and Frankie accepted a job offer from the FBI and moved to San Francisco shortly after graduation. Frankie married Mike Madden, her high school sweetheart, father of Clint and Matt, and together experienced a family life of service in the Marine Corps during the very complex Vietnam War. When their marriage ended, Frankie and the boys ventured south to Arizona, where she met her best friend and love of her life, Wayne Joe Rutledge, her husband for 32 years. Frankie, Joe and the boys moved back to California in the early 80's and established their home in Paradise. Frankie loved camping, fishing, cooking for Joe, fancy dinners with her girlfriends, reading, debating issues and listening to music. Frankie believed wholeheartedly in the universal language of music and its ability to reach the human soul when words were inadequate. Frankie had a distinguished career path, beginning as a stenographer for the FBI detective pool; accountant for the Phoenix Greyhound Park; legal secretary/ assistant for a prestigious law firm in Chico; and as municipal clerk for the Town of Paradise, retiring after 22 years of service. Frankie earned a Certified Municipal Clerk designation and was honored in 2003 as Municipal Clerk of the Year by the City Clerks Association of California. When asked of her greatest accomplishment, Frankie was certain to state that she was the most proud of raising her two boys to be good citizens, dedicated - as she was - to their families as well as to their careers in public service. Clint is a fire captain, Matt is a deputy chief of police. Both men excelled athletically and scholastically during their high school years and are active in their local communities as coaches and mentors for local youth. Frankie passed away on May 30, 2019 surrounded by her family. Frankie endured privately a progressive illness, enjoying care in her home from her husband Joe and her sister Becky. She was grateful that their home had survived the Camp Fire and she was able to return to spend her remaining days with her loving husband. Frankie is survived by her husband Joe, sons Clint (Erika) and Matt (Jennifer), sister Becky (Jack), brother Greg (Cynthia) and six grandchildren: Sean, Kyle and Morgan (Matt) and Savannah, Lauren and Brynn (Clint), along with numerous nieces and nephews.