Loretta M. Rausch
Loretta Frisch Rausch, age 96 Rosholt, South Dakota, passed away Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
Visitation for Loretta Rausch will be held Saturday, March 22, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. at St. John’s Catholic Church in Rosholt, SD.
Funeral Mass for Loretta Mae Rausch will be at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at St. John’s Catholic Church in Rosholt, SD, with Father Ken Lulf officiating.
Burial will be at a later date.
Loretta Mae was born December 15, 1928, in Graceville, MN, to Michael and Pauline (Schmitz) Frisch, and grew up on the family farm outside of Dumont, MN. Loretta attended Catholic school in Dumont followed by high school in Wheaton. After completing the 11th grade, she left school to begin work as a waitress at the restaurant in Dumont. It was at the restaurant where she met Art Rausch, newly returned from being in Europe and the Pacific during World War II, and the two began a 60-year adventure together. Loretta and Art were married at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Dumont in 1947. They settled on a farm near Collis, MN, where they raised various crops, animals and five children: Den, Don, Nancy, Doug, and Ken.
Loretta decorated for every holiday, especially Christmas, making sure her family always had something special to look forward to mark the occasion big or small. She surrounded herself with books and magazines – Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, and McCall’s – carefully clipping recipes and tracking which ones were family favorites with gold and silver stars. She dedicated time to paint-by-number, oil paintings, and embroidery, crafting perfect, beautiful pieces that filled her home and shared by loved ones. She was always ready to share chocolate chip cookies, preferring to keep the circus peanuts for herself, but making sure everyone around her had a little treat.
Loretta and Art enjoyed meeting their friends on Friday evenings for a game of cards and cocktails. In the late 60s they joined a square-dancing club and spent many years traveling with their square-dancing group from town to town to meet other square dancers and spend an evening dancing. As the kids grew and had families of their own, it became their winter getaway to take a meandering road trip in the van with Art’s sisters and brother-in-law to visit the collective children, eventually landing in Las Vegas to try their luck at the Flamingo, Sands, and other classic casinos. During their stops along the way, Loretta and Art assisted with whatever projects needed to be done, be it building a tree house or building furniture for a daughter or sons’ new home. You could always count on Loretta to be the most discerning of quality control of Art’s woodworking.
Loretta’s family is left to remember her in the everyday delights she shared with them; enjoying dessert after every meal; lemon drop candies tucked in a peanut butter jar for road trips; her collection of costume jewelry with the perfect match for an outfit; and drying dishes with a dishtowel adorned by her meticulous embroidery.
Loretta is survived by her children: Don (Sharon), Nancy, Doug (Kim), and Ken (Sue); her daughter-in-law: Deb, widow of her late son, Den; and her beloved grandchildren: Diane, Will, Julie, Amy, Jim, Summer, Matt, Vanessa, Jennifer, Claire, Joe, Hunter, Cole, Mike, and Rachel.
Arrangements are with Eggers Funeral Home in Rosholt, SD.
