Obit: Lueneburg, Ryalta Audrey #2 (1917 - 2009)
Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
Email: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Lueneburg, Kiehl, Guenther, Satrum, Boesel, Herziger, Gordon, Schlinsog, Sischo

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI.) May 27, 2009

Lueneburg, Ryalta Audrey (23 September 1917 - 23 May 2009)

Ryalta Lueneburg, 91, of Neillsville, formerly of the Milwaukee area, died Saturday, May 23, 2009, at the Memorial Health and Rehabilitation Center in Neillsville.

Ryalta Audrey Lueneburg (nee Guenther) was born Sept. 23, 1917, in Sheboygan to Otto and Minnie (Kiehl) Guenther. She graduated from Sheboygan High School in 1935, and enrolled in nurses training at Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her training included a rotation at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and another rotation at a hospital in Kansas City. She was very proud to receive her nurse’s cap in a registered nurse’s ceremony and always thought of herself as a nurse. In fact, her mail for the past week included the latest issue of Nursing Matters.

While she was in Milwaukee for nurse’s training, she met Loyd W. Lueneburg and a courtship began. When the 2nd World War came, Loyd enlisted in the navy, and they continued their courtship through occasional visits and letters. In fact, his proposal of marriage came to her through the mail, as did her acceptance. They were married Feb. 3, 1945, in Sheboygan, and Ryalta bean nursing at the Sheboygan Hospital. Their son, Keith, was born the following April. Loyd was driving bus and Ryalta was nursing; then he apprenticed at the Sheboygan Greenhouses.

Sometime in early 1950s, they moved to Fond du Lac, where Loyd worked at Hinze Floral and Ryalta switched to industrial nursing, taking a position with Mercury Marine. She had found she became very attached to her hospital patients and grieved heavily when she lost any; that was the primary reason for making the change to industrial nursing. In 1961 they purchased what became Loyd’s Greenhouse in Oak Creek, just south of Milwaukee, for which she kept the books while she worked mostly second shift as an industrial nurse at Falk Corporation. This meant she had to take care of patients in several nasty industrial accidents which occurred at Falk during her tenure and received credit for her quick thinking that helped to save lives. She worked there over 20 years.

Always active in their church, Loyd and Ryalta also became actively involved in the Masonic order, taking leadership roles while they lived in the Milwaukee area. They enjoyed the new friends they found and the responsibilities they assumed. Loyd’s health collapsed in the mid-90s and he died in 1996, leaving Ryalta alone in her apartment in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She carried on quite well until 2003, when her own health began to fail, and she went into assisted living. Keith and Sue brought her to Angelus House, now the Neillsville Retirement Center, where she had been very happy until recent health problems assailed her. She appreciated all the thoughtful care she received. Many had been very encouraging to her as she struggled to regain her strength.

Ryalta is survived by her son Keith and his wife Susan (Satrum), grandson Michael and his wife Demetria and great-grandsons, James and Joseph, Minneapolis, MN; granddaughter, Rachel Lueneburg and fiancé, Kerry Boesel, Hudson; and grandson Mark, Granton.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Otto (1975) and Minnie (1949); and infant brother, Harvey, who died before she was born; a brother, Marvin (1905 to 1978); and a sister, Lucille Guenther Herziger (1911 to 1985).

Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 27, 2009, at Zion American Lutheran Church in Granton with Pastor James Gordon officiating and a lunch following. Visitation was held Tuesday, may 26, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Gesche Funeral Home in Neillsville and will also be from 10 a.m. until service Wednesday at the church. Interment will be at the Wildwood Cemetery in Sheboygan Thursday at 11 a.m.

Casket bearers are: Michael Lueneburg, Mark Lueneburg, Rachel Lueneburg, Kelly Boesel, Norman Schlinsog and Terry Sischo.

Memorials may be directed to the Zion American Evangelical Lutheran Church, 12840 Hill Rd, Granton WI 54436 or the Pine Valley Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, W 6867 Granton Rd. Neillsville, WI 54456.

Online condolences may be made at www.GescheGH.com.

The Gesche Funeral Home is assisting Ryalta’s family with funeral arrangements.