Norbert Pietsch

Norbert Robert Pietsch, age 96, of Montgomery, passed away after a brief illness on November 17th. He was born on September 22nd, 1929, in Winchester, Texas to the late Robert Alvin Pietsch and Hulda Theresa (Tschatschula) Pietsch. He was baptized and confirmed in his faith at St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Winchester.

After completing his primary education, he helped his family with farming. He was inducted in the U.S. Army and served from March 5, 1951 until March 4, 1953 in the Military Police stateside, followed by the Army Reserves for five years. He met the love of his life, Ruth Reinhardt, in September 1954 at Ted's Sweet Shop (owned by Ted Reinhardt, Ruth's father) in Giddings, Texas. They were married on April 24th, 1955 and they were blessed with more than 70 years of marriage. They were also blessed with 3 children, Kenneth, Sheri and Curtis. Their family expanded with the addition of a daughter-in-law, Debbie Pietsch (wife to Kenneth), son-in-law Kari Toivonen (husband to Sheri) and two grandsons who were the apple of his eye, Grant Pietsch and Derek Pietsch (sons of Kenneth and Debbie). He was a dedicated and loving husband, father and grandfather (Papa) to his family. He was always willing to contribute his love, talent and skills to help his family, his church and his many longtime friends with anything that was needed.

Upon receiving his honorable discharge from the Army, he was employed by Pratka Electric in LaGrange to learn and work as an electrician's apprentice and he worked alongside his brother, Anton Pietsch. In 1955, television was the latest technology and he decided that was very interesting and enrolled in Tyler Commercial College, then went on to Tyler Jr. College. In 1958, Norbert and Ruth moved to Houston for Norbert to accept a job with Howell TV Service at $1.80/hour to use his new skills repairing TVs. After a few years, a dear fellow member of his church (Kirby Hackemack) suggested that Norbert apply for a position at SIE/Dresser where Kirby worked. Norbert took the suggestion and applied and got the job. He also decided to advance his studies through C.R.E.I, a mail order electronics school. Over time, SIE/Dresser later evolved into Oyo GeoSpace Technologies, a manufacturer of specialized electronic and seismic data acquisition equipment used in the oil and gas industry. Through the guidance of God, along with his lifelong love of learning and his dedicated work ethic, he became a Project Engineer with SIE/Dresser and Oyo GeoSpace where he worked on this specialized equipment all over the world on short-term and longer-term assignments for many years. He remained with Oyo GeoSpace until his retirement in 2000. Retirement provided him opportunities for spending time with his family, fishing with his grandsons, and enjoying time on the tractor at their beloved acreage gardening, raising cattle, and growing hay. Norbert and Ruth also traveled to many foreign and stateside destinations in retirement.

Norbert faithfully served his church, Our Savior and his previous congregations, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church and Bethlehem Lutheran Church. For many years as a younger person, he was a pitcher for Our Redeemer's softball team and he and catcher, Gary Hintz, were an accomplished duo. He was also active at various times in Voter's Assembly, served on the Board of Elders, participated in many fundraisers for the congregations and used his talents by helping to make repairs at their children's school, Lutheran Elementary North.

Norbert is survived by his wife, Ruth Pietsch, son Kenneth and wife Debbie Pietsch, daughter Sheri and husband, Kari Toivonen, son Curtis Pietsch, and grandsons, Grant Pietsch and Derek Pietsch, sister Leatrice (Lea) Haney, and sister-in-law Delores Pietsch, as well as numerous nieces and nephews and their families.

Including his parents, he was preceded in death by many of his siblings and their spouses: sister Mildred and husband Arthur Lehmann, sister Louise and husband Walter Lehmann, brother Anton and wife Irene Pietsch, sister Thelma and husband Martin (Mac) Zoch, brother-in-law Bill Haney, and brother Wilbert Pietsch.

The family will receive visitors on Sunday, November 23rd between 3PM - 6PM at Klein Funeral Home, 16131 Champion Forest Drive, Spring, TX 77379. A Funeral Service will be held Monday, November 24th at 11AM, with visitation an hour prior, at Our Savior Lutheran Church, 5000 W Tidwell Road, Houston, TX 77091, with Pastor Laurence White officiating. A luncheon will follow the service before interment at Giddings City Cemetery, 900 W Austin Street, Giddings, TX 78942, at approximately 3:30PM.

Serving as pallbearers are Grant Pietsch, Derek Pietsch, Glenn Zoch, Tim Pietsch, Wayne Zoch and Don Pietsch.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the scholarship fund of Our Savior Lutheran School, 5000 W. Tidwell Rd., Houston, TX 77091. Our Savior Lutheran School Donation Link

The Funeral Service can be viewed live through the following links:

Our Savior: https://www.osl.cc/media#sermons

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA45oRhWGIc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/853482520377669