Elaine Reitz

Elaine Esther Reitz was born January 28, 1927, the daughter of Bernard and Hilda Ackelbein Klinker. She passed away at Mercy Gilbert Medical Center in Gilbert, Arizona, on Friday, January 27, 2012, at the age of eighty-four.
Elaine was born in Willow Township in Crawford County, Iowa. She was baptized in Christ on February 20, 1927, at St. John Lutheran Church in Charter Oak, Iowa, and later confirmed there on April 6, 1941. Elaine attended Crawford County Country School, graduating the eighth grade on August 11, 1941. She then had to go to work on the family farm. Elaine also worked at the Nielsen Hotel and did some residential cleaning before she was united in marriage to Robert Reitz on November 19, 1947, at St. John Lutheran Church. This union was blessed with the birth of six children. Robert and Elaine farmed south of Charter Oak until 1963 when they moved into Charter Oak. She then went to work at Farmland Foods in Denison, Iowa, until retiring from there in 1986.
Elaine was a lifelong member of St. Johns Lutheran Church. She had a great love for her Lord and it was important to her to share that love and faith with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Her family was very important to her and she loved to attend her grandchildrens activities. Elaine enjoyed bowling, playing cards, watching sports, and traveling in her spare time. She was able to spend the winters in Arizona near family members.
Elaine was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Robert; one son, Larry; two great-granddaughters, Ashlee and Freya; one step great-grandson, Zak; two brothers, Ben, Jr., and Alvern; one sister, Helen and her husband Vernie; and brother-in-law, Merle. She is survived by three daughters: Nancy; Jeanine; Nadine and her husband, Stan; two sons: Mark; Randy and his wife, Jackie; twelve grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; four step-great-grandchildren; one daughter-in-law, Maurice and her husband, Loren; one sister, Lois; one brother, Norman and his wife, Janice; and one sister-in-law Betty.