Rebecca Lutz, age 96, of Valley City, ND, died Saturday, November 11th at SMP-St. Raphael in Valley City. A funeral service will be held at 10:00 AM Friday, November 17th at Epworth United Methodist Church in Valley City. Visitation will be held one hour before the service at the Church. Interment will be in Hillside Cemetery. An online guestbook and a livestream of Rebecca’s service will be available at www.lerudmathias.com.
Rebecca “Becky” Lou Knecht was born February 24, 1927, on the family farm two miles south of Wimbledon, ND, to Minnie Leora Phillippe Knecht and John G Knecht. Becky attended elementary school at Uxbridge and Wimbledon Schools, graduating on June 2, 1945, from Wimbledon High School. After graduation she moved to Valley City and attended Mercy
Hospital School of Nursing, graduating June 5, 1948. She worked at Mercy Hospital for 18 months with her favorite area being the surgery department.
Following her work at Mercy Hospital, Becky was a full-time home maker, wife and mother. From 1945 to 1949, Becky was a member of the Army Cadet Nurse Corps, which provided nursing support service to US hospitals during World War II. Becky met her husband Leo on March 17, 1948, and they were married on December 19, 1949, at St. John’s Methodist Church in Wimbledon, ND. They resided most of their married life in Valley City and in 1976 started traveling in the winter, eventually purchasing a park model in Yuma, AZ where they spent the winters until March of 2002, when they sold their home and purchased a condo in Valley City.
Becky is survived by her children Joanne (Stephen) Bear, Valley City; Elizabeth (Larry Jaeger), Clyde, NC; Leora (Randy) Peterson, Harwood, ND and Richard Lutz, Valley City. Grandchildren Preston Bear, Justin (Angie) Bear, Stephanie (Aaron) Bear Wohlenhaus, Travis (Ami) Peterson, Lisa (Ely) Peterson Mercil, Nicholas (Karli) Jaeger, Katrina Jaeger, Jeffrey (Jodi) Lutz and Ashley (Josh) Lutz Enright. Fourteen Great Grandchildren also survive Becky.
Becky was preceded in death by her husband Leo Lutz on Dec. 28, 2010. Also preceding her in death was Great Grandson Axel Peterson, her parents Minnie and John Knecht and siblings, John P. Knecht, Bill Knecht, Ruth Knecht Rose and adopted sister True Storey Millons.
An online guestbook and a livestream of Rebecca’s service will be available at lerudmathias.com