Rita M. Siebert

Major Rita M. Siebert, U.S.A., of Panorama City in Lacey, passed away on Saturday, February 8, 2003, in Olympia's Capitol Lake Medical Center. Rita was born October 1, 1914 on a homestead near Cheyenne Wells, Colorado to Mary Ann and William H. Siebert.Rita attended Cheyenne Wells High School and fondly remembered her school band winning a state competition and going to a national contest in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the Massed Band Concert was conducted by John Phillip Sousa.She graduated nurse's training from St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver, Colorado.Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Rita joined the Army Nurse Corps and served in New Zealand and India. After the war, she had assignments in Germany and Puerto Rico. She continued nursing at Madigan Army Hospital in Tacoma after retiring from the service in 1964.In 1984 Rita moved to Panorama City, where she was active in the Women's Overseas Service League, St. Brigid Guild, and volunteering at Providence Mother Joseph Care Center.Major Rita Siebert is missed by her surviving nieces, a nephew, and their spouses: Sandra (Monty) Kruse, of Fort Worth, Texas, William (Shirley) Siebert, of Greeley, Colorado, and Patricia (Robert) Woollard, of Alexandria, Virginia. She also leaves two grand-nieces, a grand-nephew, and two great-grand-nephews.Donations in Rita's memory may be made to Lacey's Sacred Heart Catholic Church, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, or the Alzheimer's Association.Services will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 812 Bowker S.E., Lacey, Wash., on Thursday, February 13, 2003. A Rosary will be said at 8:30 a.m., followed by a Funeral Mass at 9:00 a.m. Interment will be at Mountain View Memorial Park in Tacoma, Wash.Arrangements by Mountain View Funeral Home, (253) 584-0252. Please sign online guest book atwww.mountainviewtacoma.com