Ruth Potratz (nee Lemke) 82, formally of Neenah WI, passed away on Wednesday, April 2, 2014, at her home in Florissant MO two weeks after she was diagnosed with cancer. She was born on March 27, 1932.
Ruth was the youngest of 9 children born to Robert & Mary (Cole) Lemke, but due to the death of her mother on March 29th 1934, they were seperated and put into foster homes.
Being raised in a foster home during the depression, did not leave her with many fond childhood memories to talk about, although she always made the best out of what she had. She went to live with the Aschenbrenners in Shawano WI and though she was never adopted, they made her a welcome part of their family. Her foster sibblings, Steve, Dan, Bill, Susie & Lynn became a big part of her life. Even after Ruth was grown, married, & had children of her own, she still kept in touch & went to visit the Aschenbrenners. It was not until later in life that Ruth was able to locate & reunite with a few of her birth sibblings of which her brother Ervin (Dan) who she’s kept in touch with, is her only surviving brother.
On August 23,1952, Ruth was united in marriage to Douglas Potratz at St Margaret Mary’s church in Menasha WI. Together they bought a house in Neenah, & raised their 3 children Kathryn, Diane (Dee Dee) & Daniel. Doug preceded her in death at their home after a long illness on March 24, 2007.
After high school Ruth went on to nursing college to became an LPN. She worked for many years at Theda Clark Memorial Hospital in Neenah as an OB-GYN nurse until she was offered a position at Riverside Clinic to be Dr Doug Riley’s pediatric nurse which she accepted, so as it turned out, many of the babies she helped deliver into this world, she also went on to care for them as children at the clinic. As the city of Neenah grew, so did the number of pediatric doctors that also trusted, & wanted Ruth to be their head nurse with their patients, as they made the move to a larger clinic next to the hospital named LaSalle Clinic. It was there she continued to work until her retirement in nursing.
Ruth loved her profession as a nurse, made many friends through her years of helping people & recieved many honors & awards for her well preformed & dedicated work. After she retired from nursing she kept busy working part time at a grocery store passing out samples & working in the produce department. A few years later the store she was working at moved their location. She continued to work for them for awhile, but didn’t like the drive she had to make everyday. She was offered a job working as a cashier at a gas stationconvenience store which she accepted and again made many new friends, with customers that would make it a point to go into the station while she was working just to say hi to her. Ruth continued to work at Moto Mart until the passing of her husband & her move to Missouri with DeeDee in 2007.
In her younger years along with Doug, they loved to bowl in leagues, golf, camp, attend football & baseball games while rooting for their beloved Packers & Milwaukee Brewers, entertain friends & try their luck at the slot machines. She loved to sing & would get her friends to sing along with her at the camp grounds or where ever there was music playing. One of her most favorite songs was “One Day At A Time” by Christy Lane & she had requested many times over the past few years that this song be played at her memorial.
Both Ruth & Doug were members of St Gabriels parish in Neenah, & active in community programs. One thing Ruth was really proud of was that over the years she had donated Gallons of blood to the Red Cross drives.
Later in life, her enjoyment turned to working on cross word puzzles, playing games on her computer, & trying to figure out what was going to happen next on a couple of her favorite soap operas. She loved to read books & would read every night in bed before going to sleep. Ruth was an animal & bird lover. Every day if you went to their house in Neenah you would probably find her with a couple of Cockatiels sitting on her shoulders that Dee Dee had given them over the years. When she moved to Missouri her birds came with her. We put them down in the “bird” room with all the other Cockatiels. She would go down there every day, talk to them, give them treats, & let them sit on her while she worked her crossword puzzles. With open flight cages & the birds never being locked up, it wasn’t unusual go down there & see 8 or 9 birds sitting on her shoulders, head, & lap, & she loved every minute of it. She would come upstairs & tell me who sat by her, who was being mean to another, and who was chewing on her crossword book. Living in a suburb with a wooded area behind the house in Florissant brought her great pleasure when she found out the woods were home to deer, raccoons, & opossums. She would spend part of her afternoon, fixing up the “critter” bowls with food to be put out on the patio, making sure each one had the same amount of dog food, left overs, torn up pieces of bread, and yes she made ramon noodles for them to put on top. It’s no wonder why there would be 8 or more raccoons & an opossum or 2 up here every night. They knew they would get a gourmet meal at “Ruthies Diner”.
Ruth is survived by her 3 children, Kathryn Nowland, Cuba MO; Diane (DeeDee) Hulsey (Rich Pettit), Florissant MO; & Dan Potratz; 10 grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, 1 great great grandchild, neices, nephews, her brother Dan Lemke, Airway Heights WA; & her foster sibblings Dan, Susie, Lynn, & Bill. Her grandson Danny Nowland who she is once again reunited with, preceded her in death on May 18th, 2007.
Ruth’s final wishes were to be cremated & be joined with her loving husband of over 54 years. Her wishes have been granted. Ruth & Doug are together again, in both body & soul with no more suffering or pain. Peace & happiness be with them as we gather to place them in their eternal resting place. A graveside memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 26th 2014 at Kinder Cemetary, Cuba MO with Father Korte from Holy Cross church in Cuba MO officiating. Until we meet again you will both be missed dearly here on earth. Our precious memories of you we shall cherish forever.
Thank you to Pathways Hospice & St. Louis Cremation for the help, support, loving care, & thoughtful words given to Ruth & her family when needed the most. Thank you to Tom Murray Monument of St. Louis MO for the beautiful memorial monument. Our tears have been shed, & yes there will be many more, but we find comfort knowing your both in a better place with our Lord in heaven. We pray, when our time here on earth is done, our sins will be forgiven, & we’ll join you once again to rest in eternal peace in the home of our Lord.