Rachel Steinbeck Sturz

Rachel Steinbeck Sturz Mrs. Rachel Steinbeck Sturz, 72, passed away Friday, July 24, 2009. The funeral service will be conducted at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Wilkerson Funeral Chapel. Burial will be in Homestead Memorial Gardens. Rachel was a humble, self-effacing Christian and her amazing life and accomplishments are credited to God. To Him be the glory for what He can do through a life yielded to Him. Rachel was part of the Steinbeck family, charter members of St. James United Methodist Church. She came to Christ in a Methodist Tent Revival at the age of 17. She was a former member of Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church where she directed the children's choir. She helped start the Peace Presbyterian Church and served as an Elder and choir director. She had participated in the operation of a telephone ministry and helped point many to Christ. As a homemaker, Rachel raised three children and kept her home always filled with lots of laughter and singing. She passed on her love of music to her son Justin and helped launch his career as an accomplished musician. Her daughter Arielle became, at the time, the youngest city council member in Greenville and now works in a large Washington, D.C., defense firm and is an excited mother-to-be. Her other daughter, Jensina, also of the Washington, D.C., area, is the office manager for her husband's construction company, and is also expecting a beautiful baby girl, Rachel Lee. Rachel was a graduate of both Greenville High School, Class of '55, and of East Carolina College, where she earned both her B.A. and M.A. degrees in business. In the early 60s, Rachel worked in Washington, D.C., serving as a page under John F. and Robert Kennedy for the House Un-American Activities Committee, investigating Jimmy Hoffa. After moving back to North Carolina, she served as the Assistant Dean of Women at East Carolina University for a year and a half and taught business classes at Mt. Olive College and Atlantic Christian College (now Barton). Rachel also enjoyed working part-time for 25 years as a bookkeeper at Steinbeck's Men's Shop for her dad and brother in addition to serving as a receptionist for Sturz Christian Counseling. In pursuit of her passion for music, she gave vocal concerts, conducted seminars on how to direct choirs for music teachers and directed a number of children's choirs in schools and in competitions, many winning first place. She taught both music and art for 25 years at Greenville Christian Academy and Trinity Christian School and taught private art lessons. For more than the past decade, she concentrated her musical love into conducting the Community Pop Singers. She enjoyed this activity with her husband who sang tenor and her son who is the group's accompanist. A self-taught and well-loved local artist, Rachel produced hundreds of beautiful paintings and drawings, which are displayed locally, across the nation and internationally. Rachel's Art Studio is a Greenville favorite. Rachel was a strong conservative Christian voice and was in the forefront of eastern North Carolina politics, partly through the influence of her dad, Frank Steinbeck Sr., who was active in politics in the 1950s as a Republican. She was past vice president and current secretary of the 3rd GOP Congressional District, and was involved in the Republican Women of Pitt County. She also served on the Central and the Executive Committee of the North Carolina Republican Party. Rachel helped start and direct the Conservative Arise Political Action Committee in Pitt County. She wrote publicity releases for the GOP, advised and encouraged many friends in political campaigns, served as treasurer for many candidates, and frequently wrote letters to the editor. Until the time of her death, Rachel enjoyed planning the arrival of her respective grandbabies with all three of her children and their spouses. She was preceded in death by her parents, Herbert Franklin Steinbeck and Freda Rohrbough Steinbeck. She is survived by her husband, Joe Sturz; son, Justin Sturz and wife Sarah of Greenville; daughters, Arielle Heffernan and husband Thomas, and Jensina Printz and husband Jim, all of northern Virginia; sisters, Loraine Searcy and husband Joe, of Halifax, and Jensina Sheppard and husband Maurice of Los Alamos, N.M.; and brother, Frank Steinbeck Jr. and wife Joyce of Greenville. The family will receive friends at Wilkerson Funeral Home from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Christian Action League, 809 Spring Forest Road, No. 1000, Raleigh, NC 27609-9147. Online condolences at www.wilkersonfuneralhome.com.