Mary Ann Rueter's Obituary
Mary Ann Rueter, 100, of Decatur, Il, went back to the chorus of Angels from whence she came on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. Mary was born on February 28, 1925, in St. Louis, MO, the third of five children of WWI veteran Philip Hershfelt and Helen (Etter) Hershfelt. Family legend tells of a fateful day during her High School days of meeting one Robert Dale Rueter. Dale was called to serve his country during a little thing called WWII, and the starry eyed lovestruck heroine of our tale followed her true love to Houston, TX where they were married on October 8, 1943. After the war’s conclusion, the couple moved back to Decatur, and Dale began practice as an optometrist. They had three good sons, Bob, Bill, and Scott. Well, mostly good sons. Well, none of them have killed anyone. Yet. They also have 4 exceptional grandchildren, Michael, Matt, Griffin and Kaitlyn. Mary Ann attended Richland College soon after it opened in the 80’s in downtown Decatur and obtained her Associates degree. At about this time, she also owned and operated a women’s sleepwear and underwear boutique called the Chemise Shop in downtown Decatur for several years. She was an avid fisherman, bowler, card shark, board game player and talented artist. The image of her printed with this obituary is a self portrait she painted. Tabletop and card games were a prevalent feature of the Rueter household. Mary Ann’s only vices were her ravenous love of mint meltaways and cheating at Cribbage, which obviously she did because there was no other way she could win so often. Her love of chocolate was an amazing thing, because when she ate chocolate, it only served to make her less sweet than she already was. The gaming gene proved strong in that two of her sons and three of her grandchildren became avid game players as well. Unfortunately, the three grandchildren also inherited her cheating gene, again clearly because there is no other reason they would be able to win against their father and uncle so often. She was preceded in death by her love of 75 years, Dale, her parents, three brothers, one niece, one nephew and two sons. She is survived by her son Scott A. Rueter and wife Melinda E. of Decatur, IL; her baby sister Helen Elizabeth Taylor of Dunedin, FL, (she’s only 90), two nieces and five nephews. A Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Thursday (12-18-2025) at St. James Catholic Church with visitation from 9:00 A.M. until 11:00A.M. at the church. The burial will be at a later date at Fairlawn Cemetery, Decatur, IL.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to: PawPrint Ministries.
Condolences and memories may be shared with the family in care of Graceland Fairlawn Funeral Homes https://www.gracelandfairlawn.com.
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