Katherine Paetz (1934-2021)

PAETZ, ROTH, BECKY, ASTHALTER, VAN LENT, PAETZ, MORRISON, JACKSON, ANDERSEN

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 10/22/2021 at 19:07:23

MUSCATINE, Iowa - On a beautiful fall day in October, Mrs. R. Jack Paetz surrounded by her family and dear best friend Bertha, went home with the Lord at the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House in Bettendorf, Iowa.

Funeral Service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 25, 2021, at Trinity Episcopal Church. Burial will take place in Greenwood Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 1 until 4 p.m., on Sunday, October 24, 2021, at the Ralph J. Wittich-Riley-Freers Funeral Home. The family has requested all donations be made to the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice Home or Jesus Mission in Muscatine, Iowa. Online condolences: www.wittichfuneralhome.com

Katherine entered into this glorious world on July 10, 1934. She is the daughter of Joseph and Bertha Roth. She is the star of our show.

She attended St. Mathias School with wonderful classmates like Dick Peterson, Nella Chayka and Kenny Lang until the eighth grade.

She graduated from Muscatine High School in 1952. Her class included so many of her best friends including Suzanne (Phillips) Hirsch, Sandy (Meerdink) Graham, Barbara (Boynton) Sabbath, Joann (Paetz) Dickinson and Harvey Allbee Jr. She is a graduate of Muscatine Community College in 1954. She was employed at the Yale Co-Op in New Haven, Connecticut.

Her love was always children, and she started her teaching career with some of the sweetest kindergarteners ever in Wellman, Iowa.

Her teaching career continued at Jefferson, Lincoln, and Madison Elementary in Muscatine. Later in life, she was blessed to work at the Muscatine YMCA with precious children and lovely co-workers like Natalie Noble.

She was a life-long member of the Democratic Party and loved serving as a poll watcher for over two decades. She would fondly remind us that Daddy, Joseph Roth, was Democratic County Chairman for over 25 years. Jack and Katherine fought for peace and justice with dear friends Norbert and Judy Beckey and Father Tom Buechele. They also loved Sunday night pinochle games with Bob and Elaine Herwig. She enjoyed long walks in black coats on cold days with Pat French. They pretended they were part of a secret society. She had a great imagination and loved to laugh.

She was a member of St. Mary's Church and a great woman of Faith. She was generous, loving and cared deeply for those less fortunate and her favorite charitable organizations were UNICEF, Disabled American Veterans, and WQPT. She also loved making cakes for the Jesus Mission.

She married the love of her life, the one and only Jack Paetz in New Haven, Connecticut on March 5, 1959. She was a wonderful and fun wife and mother to six grateful children and the grandmother of 12 incredible grandchildren. She always said raising children was the favorite time of her life. She was a beautiful homemaker and a gracious hostess.

She was a friend to many and was blessed with rich and lifelong friendships. She enjoyed attending and hosting Bridge Club with dear friends, Norma Shepley, Betty Lechner, Millie (Brady) Schafenacher, Pat (John) Hahn, Pat (George) Hahn, Mary Ann Boulund, Barbara Sabbath, Genie (Hocking) Nickerson, and MaryJo Mueller.

She transitioned from Muscatine to Bettendorf and was blessed with wonderful neighbors on Villa Court.

Following the homegoing of her husband in 1992, she was reunited with her special friend, the late John W. Sabbath from Cedar Falls, Iowa. They spent years traveling, celebrating special family occasions, and having way too much fun.

She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers Robert. Joseph "Junior", Paul and two beautiful sisters Geraldine (Roth) Asthalter and Marian (Roth) Van Lent. Her faithful brother John and wife Celeste from LeClaire, Iowa are still living.

Her family includes six children and twelve grandchildren; Jonathan and Leanne Paetz of Omaha, Nebraska with Joseph and Olivia, Jennifer and Tom Morrison of Chandler, Arizona with Patrick and Julia, Elizabeth and Mark Jackson from Story City, Iowa with Christopher and Elizabeth Joy, David and Jodie Paetz from Naperville, Illinois with Sam, Erin and Jack. Katherine and Kurt Andersen from Eldridge, Iowa with Grace, Kate and Gabby, and Daniel and Cindy Paetz from Muscatine.

Her family will miss her but are grateful she is in the arms of the Lord.

Special thanks to all the wonderful caregivers from HomeInstead and Bickford Cottage in Davenport, Iowa. We so appreciated all of the services of Genesis Hospice; Betsy, her at home hospice nurse and the loving and kind staff at the Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House. Also, thank you to Dr. Mouhamed Al Sheikha, Dr. Humphrey Wong and Dr. Catherine Schierbrock with Genesis Medical Center, Dr. Udaya B. Prakash of the Mayo Clinic, and Dr. Kurt Andersen for their loving care and kindness towards our Mother.