Obituaries : Katherine Lutz

Vinton—Katherine Lutz, 91, died peacefully at her home, under hospice care, Monday evening, June 23, 2014, following a brief illness.

Memorial services will be at 1 p.m. Friday, June 27, 2014 at Blessed Hope Church in Vinton followed by a luncheon in the church fellowship hall. Private inurnment will be in Greenwalt Cemetery, rural Vinton, at a later date.

Katherine Margaret Lutz was born February 20, 1923 near Cedar Falls, Iowa, the daughter of Jonathan Webster and Cecil McNeal Snyder. Her family moved to the Vinton area and she attended school in Vinton. As a teenager she picked green beans for the Green Giant Canning Factory. She also worked as an aide at Virginia Gay Hospital.

On June 20, 1942, she married Merlin Lutz at the Christian Church in Vinton. The couple farmed near Vinton. Katherine was a Red Cross volunteer for many years and she was also active in her church, most recently as a member of Blessed Hope Church. She was an avid quilter and made over one hundred quilts that she gave to family and friends. She was an excellent pie baker and she was renowned for her cookies.

She is survived by her husband of 72 years, Merlin, of Vinton; her sons, Gene (Inger) Lutz of Cedar Falls and Michael (Shelley) Lutz of Vinton; her daughter, Connie Martinez of Edwardsville, IL; nine grandchildren; twenty great grandchildren and her sister, Berneice Good, of Independence, IA.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Clarence Snyder; sisters, Dorothy Bates and Berneita Neubauer.

A memorial fund has been established.

Van Steenhuyse-Russell Funeral Home is caring for Katherine and her family. Condolences may be left at www.vsrfh.com.