Rita Claire (Burke) Heth
July 22, 1931 — January 28, 2017
Rita Claire Heth, age 85, of Marseilles, passed away Saturday, January 28, 2017, in Metamora with her loving family by her side.
A memorial service, officiated by Pastor Charles Warger, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 4, at First Baptist Church in Ottawa. A three-hour open house for fellowship time with family and friends will immediately follow the service in the church Fellowship Hall. Interment of her cremated remains will be in Grand Rapids Cemetery, Grand Ridge, at a later date. Gladfelter Funeral Home in Ottawa is assisting the family with arrangements.
Rita was born July 22, 1931, in Ottawa, Illinois, a daughter of Walter Patrick and Dora Lee (Garrett) Burke. She married George William “Shorty” Heth February 2, 1952, in Ottawa. He preceded her in death March 19, 1972. Surviving are her children, Lisa (Dennis) Heth Coon of Sheridan and Tim (Sherri) Heth of Metamora; daughters-in-law, Sheila (Michael) Heth of Princeton and Ollie (Kip) Heth of Carthage, Missouri; and a son-in-law, Jeff (Georgia) Stohr of Mendota. She also leaves grandchildren, Matthew, Daniel, Gabrielle, Rachel, Sara, Nicholas and Katherine Heth, Megan (Coon) Eline, Brian and Jackie Coon, and Ryan and Jacob Stohr; and great-grandchildren, Henry and Isla Coon, Theodore and Alexander Eline, Natalie, Audrey and Avah Heth; and one sister, Helen DeBernardi of Modesto, California. Rita was preceded in death by her parents; husband; two sons, Michael Heth and Robert “Kip” Heth; a daughter, Georgia Stohr and a sister, Marcella Apte.
Rita was a member of the Ottawa Township High School graduating class of 1949 and was the school’s first homecoming queen. She graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1973 with a BS in Education and went on to teach primarily kindergarten at Rutland Consolidated Elementary School. Rita was a member and cornerstone of the First Baptist Church in Ottawa where she dedicated her life to serving others and singing in the church choir. Above all else, Rita treasured her family and spent countless hours cooking, baking, and sewing for her children and grandchildren. She loved wildflowers and the birds that regularly visited her feeders. She grew up fishing with her dad and spent summers at Turtle River Lake near Bemidji, Minnesota, and shared this love of fishing with her children and grandchildren.
Memorial contributions can be made to the First Baptist Church of Ottawa Missionary Outreach or to the family.