Family, colleagues and former students described him as a mentor, leader, demanding professor, “crusty character” and supportive father and husband.

Rutledge, an MSU professor emeritus of theater, served as chairman of the department from 1971-82 and interim chairman from 2001-05. He retired from the university last July and spent time traveling last fall in the United Kingdom with his wife, MSU professor emeritus Gretel Geist Rutledge.

George Peters, chairman of the theater department, said the legacy Rutledge would be most proud of is his devotion to the theater students and program.

“Frank was one of a kind, he was much loved,” Peters said.

“He didn’t put up with any nonsense and he was a demanding teacher that gained respect. He could be very frank — and that’s not a pun.”

Andrea Rutledge, the oldest of his three children, said she will miss her father’s support and their Sunday night talks the most. When she made a last-minute decision to go to graduate school, her father was there to reassure her and help pack her car to leave.

“He said ‘OK, I know you’re freaked out and you’re not sure what to do, but I’m going to give you some money to get you started and you don’t ever have to pay me back,’” Andrea Rutledge said. “If he hadn’t said go, I might not have gone.”

Along with his wife, Rutledge was responsible for founding MSU’s Summer Circle Theatre. He also directed the Simply Shakespeare tour of Michigan’s secondary schools.

Rebecca Zellar, a 1999 MSU alumna and former student of Rutledge, said she remembers waiting to hear his grumbling voice coming from the back of the classroom after performances.

“He’d either say ‘That’s the biggest piece of shit I’ve ever seen’ or ‘You’re a genius,’” she said. “He never sugar-coated things.”

Zellar also remembers the professor alluding to the “great actor” Harrison Ford and the way he reminded the class of Indiana Jones by donning his flat-brimmed hat and leather jacket.

She said Rutledge was one the most influential professors she had at MSU, inspiring her to pursue a career in directing after she initially wanted to become an actress.

Kirk Domer, associate chairman and head of design, said Rutledge was influential to him when he worked his first job after graduate school and Rutledge introduced him to the area and local professional environment.

“Shock waves throughout the theater community as a whole are going to be felt,” Domer said.

“He taught me, and now I’m a head of the program. We’re talking about generations who are going to feel this.”