Jeanne Duemler Rueter

1929 - 2019

October 16, 1929 – July 26, 2019

Jeanne Catherine Duemler Rueter (89) readily made good friends and was quick with a hearty laugh all throughout her life. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, the second of seven children of Dr. John C. and Adele (Meyer) Duemler, her young life centered around her siblings, youth activities at St. Lucas Church and Job's Daughters of the Masons. She attended Wyman School in St. Louis and then Grant School, a two-room schoolhouse in the countryside of St. Louis County where she later began her teaching career, 1950-1952.

She graduated with a B.A. in Education from Washington University in 1950, taking the city bus from her family's home every day all four years. She met her husband, Ernest A. Rueter, Seattle, in 1950 while he attended Eden Seminary. They wed in 1952 then moved to Nashua, Iowa where Ernie pastored his first church. Allen Paul was born in 1954 and Rebecca Catherine in 1956. Robert Gorham was born in 1958 in Evansville, Indiana.

Jeanne resumed her teaching career in 1965 near West Lafayette, Indiana where the family lived from 1959 to 1967. They moved to Gary, Indiana in 1967 and she earned her M.A. in Education from Purdue University Northwest in 1969.

Jeanne taught primary school for a total of 31 years including 22 years in Chesterton, Indiana. She was devoted to students and colleagues, and to the art of teaching, delighting in first graders to whom she read aloud daily.

In addition to her dear sisters, many of her best friends were fellow teachers with whom she stayed close to for many years. Following retirement, she worked for two years in the Parents as Teachers program and led art appreciation for first graders. With Ernie, she took long dreamed of trips to Hawaii and Europe. In 1999, she traveled to China for the adoption of one of her granddaughters.

Jeanne was active in many philanthropic, community, and professional organizations throughout her life including Washington University Alumni. In 2002, Ernie and Jeanne moved to Brattleboro, Vermont to be near two of their three children and their families. They were active at Centre Congregational Church where Jeanne knit countless prayer shawls and participated in study groups, rummage sales, and potlucks. She also belonged to two book groups and was active in the American Association of University Women and a retired teachers association. Jeanne enjoyed her granddaughters, needlework, crafts, classical music, art and poetry, and a good game of Chicken Foot (dominoes). Ernie and she attended many local theater productions.

A year after her husband's death, she became a resident at the Thompson House in Brattleboro March 2014, where she won dozens of quarters in Bingo games and enjoyed sing-alongs. She died from complications of Alzheimer's Disease. The family is grateful for the kind and supportive care for the past five years.

Jeanne was predeceased by Ernest, her husband of 60 years. She is survived by her three children and three granddaughters: Allen Rueter, Catherine Koziol & Adelaide Koziol of Webster Groves, Missouri; Rebecca & Emma Rueter and Robert & Joanna Rueter of Brattleboro, Jennifer Atlee, Marko Packard & great-granddaughter Iris Marie Atlee of Montague, Massachusetts. She is also survived by her beloved siblings: John & Clela Duemler, Dr. Robert & Mary Duemler, Annette & Ivan Reece, Yvonne & Frank Lupton, Jacqueline Barnes, and Richard & Barbara Duemler. She will be remembered by a few dozen Duemler and Rueter nieces & nephews plus all their children for the birthday cards Jeanne sent every year to each one.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 20, 2019, 2 p.m., Centre Congregational Church, Brattleboro, Vermont. All are welcome. Per Jeanne's wishes, memorials may be made to Centre Congregational Church in Brattleboro, the American Association of University Women Foundation or The Nature Conservancy.