Margaret Ruth (Herbst) Dulitz, 80, died May 18, 2009, at her farm home south of Webster.
Memorial services will be Wednesday the 27th of May at 10:30am at the United Methodist Church in Webster, with the Rev. Dr. John Hisel officiating. A light lunch will follow the service. Suzanne Olawsky and Marsha Gisselbeck will be soloists, accompanied by Nick Fosheim and organist LaVonne Prieb.
Her ashes will be committed at Webster Cemetery and scattered on the farm where she lived for the last 42 years.
The family may be visited Tuesday the 26th between 5pm and 8pm at the Coester Funeral Home in Webster, with an informal service at 7pm.
Memorials may be given in Ruth's honor to the Tree of Life Ministry or to the Endowment Fund of the Day County Arts Council; contact the church for more information.
The third of five sisters, Ruth was born January 17th, 1929, to Edward and Merle (Speelman) Herbst of Davison County, S.D. She was baptized at St. John's Lutheran in Hillside and confirmed at First Lutheran in
Mitchell. She attended rural school Baker #39 for eight years and graduated from Mitchell High School and Augustana College in Sioux Falls. When Ruth graduated from Augustana, she taught as a missionary at the Hongo Student Center near Tokyo University. After ten years of Lutheran ministry in Japan, she returned to South Dakota, taught high
school in Baltic, and married Wesley Dulitz of rural Webster.
Ruth was a tireless and talented farmer, mother, truck driver, teacher, cook, Master Gardener, and cattle herder, sometimes all at once. Over the years Ruth taught and later led the Sunday School and Vacation Bible School programs at St. John's Lutheran Church in Webster, where she was a member of the church council. She gave particular focus to Bible studies and Lutheran World Relief efforts. Starting in 2001,
Ruth worked intensively with the Day County Arts Council, designing the Webster Mural Garden, editing the book "Echoes and Reflections,"organizing the ManyNations Festival, and serving as President.
She is survived by her husband of 42 years, Wesley Dulitz of Webster; her son Daniel Dulitz and daughter-in-law Alice Sheppard of Palo Alto,California; and her sisters Virginia Wilcox of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, Carroll Van Dyke of Seaside, Oregon, Helen Stormo of Hayti and her husband Charles, and Ramona Neidlinger of San Antonio, Texas.