Owner of Vic’s Ice Cream dies at 73. Craig Rutledge created priceless memories in Land Park
Craig Rutledge, described as knowing nearly every Land Park resident as the owner of the iconic Vic’s Ice Cream, has died. He was 73.
The cause of death was cirrhosis of the liver. Rutledge had been hospitalized roughly two weeks before his death Monday night, said Matthew Rutledge, his son.
“It was actually really shocking,” said sister Karen Tzikas, 70. “Nobody really expected it.”
Rutledge’s father, Ashley Rutledge, and Vic Zito founded the landmark in 1947, after serving in World War II. He began working at Vic’s while attending Kennedy High School, never stopping his service to generations of Sacramento residents.
“Craig’s passing reminds us to never take for granted the simple joys of life,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said. “Vic’s is a Sacramento institution that continues to create good times and memories for so many Sacramento families, including mine. The city and I will keep Craig and his family in our prayers.”
Born Dec. 26, 1950, to Ash and homemaker Joyce, Rutledge grew up not far from the ice cream shop. He attended John Cabrillo Elementary School and San Brannan Middle School, Tzikas said.
Cared deeply about the community
Growing up, Matthew Rutledge said that as his family strolled around Land Park, practically everyone knew his father.
Cultivating relationships through his genuine personality was a hallmark of the positive impact his father leaves behind, he said.
“He always had a way of ... making you feel seen,” Matthew said. “He just enjoyed and appreciated everybody for who they were.”
Rutledge’s kindness stood out to Tzikas.
He always dropped everything to help his neighbors and family, she said. Community events in Land Park and beyond often featured free Vic’s ice cream that Rutledge and his workers had donated.
“He was a soft-spoken guy who cared deeply about the community,” said Mark Abrahams, a former president of the Land Park Community Association, who knew Rutledge for decades. “He was well-liked by the employees at Vic’s. He volunteered a lot of time to the community.”
As a child, Rutledge built a wooden car used to drive neighbors up and down Mulberry Lane in South Land Park. He crafted a tree house for Tzikas and his sons, she said.
“He was the sweetest little boy and man,” Tzikas said.
As a father, Craig always listened and provided advice if asked. He wouldn’t judge anyone, Matthew said.
Tzikas recalled the parlor — still boasting its original design today — was always on their minds growing up in Land Park. It was a deep love for the capital city that prompted Rutledge to keep working at Vic’s after he graduated from the University of Redlands and served in the Air Force.
“He wanted to keep it going,” Tzikas said of the family business. “He wanted to keep it alive. He didn’t want to sell it.”
By word of mouth, the business grew along Riverside Boulevard, once considered the countryside. It became a spot for high school students to visit as homes and schools developed south of the central grid. He eventually opened branches in East Sacramento and Davis that have since closed.
Matthew Rutledge recalled how his father loved scooping up ice cream for customers, especially when children came by.
He wasn’t focused heavily on the money or business aspect of Vic’s. Instead, he loved chatting with regular shoppers and crafting cake or pie designs.
“Just being a part of people’s happiness and creating happiness with their birthday parties, celebrations,” Matthew said.
Residents often pitted Vic’s and Gunther’s Ice Cream, another iconic ice cream shop, against each other.
But Marlena Klopp, a co-owner of the Curtis Park parlor, said they all found humor in what residents called a rivalry.
“Gunther’s is part of Vic’s,” Klopp said, while noting they knew Ash Rutledge, “and, Vic’s is a part of Gunther’s.”
The two businesses worked with each other, Klopp said. Prior to the pandemic, both shops would order ice cream in bulk and split the delicacy. They compared stories, products and recipes as people working in the same field, Klopp said.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Klopp said of Rutledge’s death. “We are still trying to soak it up.”
Bobby Masullo, the owner of nearby pizzeria Masullo, said he grew up going to Vic’s and aspired to have an institution like Vic’s that helps define a neighborhood.
“It was the neighborhood as much as anything else, if not more so,” Masullo said.
A family affair
Craig Rutledge recalled in a 1997 Sacramento Bee story about how families lined up along Riverside Boulevard to buy pints or quarts of ice cream, only to eat it overnight because their relatively crude ice boxes couldn’t keep the treats frozen.
“People are always coming back to meet here, just like family,” Craig Rutledge said in 1997. He assumed Vic’s management duties from his father in the late 1980s. Ash Rutledge died in 2010 at age 90.
The 76-year-old Land Park business has grown from offering six ice cream flavors to 22. It now serves breakfast and lunch at the neighboring Vic’s Cafe, which Rutledge created 2013.
“It’s been his whole life,” Tzikas said of her brother.
Many business steps were a family affair: Craig Rutledge said his mother, sister and college-aged son helped select the cafe’s menu selections. Matthew Rutledge said they haven’t completely figured out what’s next for Vic’s but said the current general manager, David Gilson, is doing a great job.
He is survived by son Matthew and his wife, Tace Higuchi; son Jeffery Rutledge; and his sister, Karen Tzikas, and her husband Mike Tzikas. He was also a huge dog lover and had many throughout his life. He leaves behind three Labradoodles: Jasmine, Rusty and Anna.
Services are pending.
Tzikas said Rutledge embodied a sentiment held by their father: They both didn’t want to be the richest man in the graveyard.
The institution both her father and brother poured their life into didn’t make them obscenely rich, she said.
But, instead, they helped create priceless memories.
“Lot of people have memories of Vic’s — the birthday parties, everything,” she said.
