Obituary
Rita was born to Ruth Ann Kanitz and John Charles Marshall Herschel McClain Garrett on October 19th, 1945 in South Milwaukee, WI. She had 7 siblings one of whom was her identical twin, Roberta. Rita suffered from severe allergies her entire life, but God works for good even through our suffering, and her allergies allowed her to receive tuition assistance to attend college.She graduated from Dr. Martin Luther College in New Ulm, MN in 1968 having first attended Milwaukee Lutheran Teachers College. She received her first call to teach in Arizona on the Apache Indian Reservation at East Fork. She taught at the elementary school there for 2 years. She was then called to Zion Lutheran in Crete, IL where she taught in the grade school. While chaperoning a young peoples society ice skating outing, she caught Vics eye, and married him on June 10, 1972.Having lost her father when she was 15, she received assistance from his veterans benefits to return to college and received her nursing degree. She then began a rewarding career as a Registered Nurse. As her nursing career progressed she obtained a Nursing Home Administrator license in the early 1990s and was the Director of Nursing in several area nursing homes for many years. Later in her career, God lead her to return to front line nursing as a private-duty, home-health nurse. She was blessed to show her faith to several families struggling with complex medical issues. Her witness even resulted in at least one of these clients being baptized. She called the children she worked with her surrogate grandchildren and loved them dearly. She continued her work as a nurse until her cancer diagnosis in June of 2017. She strived to live the rest of her days in prayer and praise, wanting to show all her caregivers the peace her faith brought her.Over the years, God blessed and used Rita in many ways. She had 3 children, whom she and Vic raised in the Christian faith. She was active at Zion over the years as a Sunday school teacher, supporting the activities of her children, and acting as the church librarian. She was also active in Womens Ministry, and as Zions reporter for the Chicago Chapter of LWMS. Rita was a Park Commissioner for the Crete Park District for over a decade. She and Vic also enjoyed driving holidays and regularly visited Branson, Missouri.God called her home on January 13, 2018 while attended by her husband and daughter. She will be interred at Zion Lutheran Cemetery, in Crete.Rita was preceded in death by her mother and father, her sister, Susan Perry, and her son, Martin.Rita is survived by her husband, Victor Piepenbrink of Crete; her daughters Sandra (Phil) Parker, of Slough, Berkshire, UK; and Annette (Andrew) Roinestad, of Palmer Lake, Colorado; by her sisters and brothers, Roberta Williams, McClain Mack Garrett, Sylvia Boyajian, Ruth Rusch, Charles Chuck Garrett, and Kathy Romanowski; and many other family and friends who loved her.She will be laid to rest Saturday, January 20th, at Zion Ev. Lutheran Church in Crete, Illinois. Visitation from 9-11am at the church, service at 11am with grave-side ceremony followed by a meal served at Illinois Lutheran school (behind the church). In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Zion Ev. Lutheran Church or the Lutheran Women’s Missionary Society.”” “