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The family of Peter J. Rauth uploaded a photo
Friday, June 1, 2018
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Barb and Frank Palmer posted a condolence
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Our thoughts and prayers have been with you. YOU and your family's love and and support I know Peter appreciated. Thinking of you. Love, Barb and Frank
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Marisa LaRue posted a condolence
Friday, June 15, 2007
Sending love and best wishes, and fond memories of good times gone by, as faithful Peter goes home. My love and prayers for the family.
Marisa
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Kathleen Manning posted a condolence
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Dad moved out to Olympia August of 2005. He didn't want to move out of his home of 63 years, but he could no longer maintain it on his own. My sister, Pat, and I presented him with 3 choices. Stay at a retirement facility in Elmhurst, move to a facility in San Diego, or move to a facility in Olympia. Both Pat and I wanted him with us. I played my trump cards - two grandchildren and a baby great granddaughter in Olympia - and Dad came to Olympia with me. He hated the climate, but loved having his grandchildren and great granddaughter near him. He lived in the independent side of a retirement facility about 1 mile from my house until he needed care 24/7 just about 3 weeks ago. So I took a leave of absence and moved my Dad to Carl's and my house. The two weeks he was here are precious to me. There were many adjustments, but Dad was always plotting ways to make things easier and better. His last evening we really enjoyed watching the Mariners beat the Padres and our chocolate pudding. Dad nodded off to eternity and Teresa at about 10:35 p.m. Saturday, June 9. He officially died at 11:10 p.m when the hospice nurse arrived. There is a big hole in my life.
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Laurel Wilson,sister-in-law to Kathleen Manning posted a condolence
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
It has been my privilege and joy to have known Peter Rauth for as long as I have known Kathy when she was going out with my brother, Carl, way back in high school. Each and every time I would get to visit at the Rauth's home I would always be graciously
welcomed into their friendly circle of family love and care. His concern for me and my children through the years only increased my respect for the man. His genuine interest in how we were getting along just proved what a true gentleman he was. I know that he will be missed by all that knew him. My love and prayers to all in his family.
K
Krista Charles, Pete's granddaughter-in-law posted a condolence
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
I have only happy feelings and memories and love of Pete, but I am sad that I will never get another kiss from him. He was my husband Pat’s grandfather and Pete always treated me extra special, like I was his granddaughter, too. Whenever Pat and I could visit, he not only made us welcome and feel like we were at home, he would always take us out to eat and he always insisted on paying the bill. And he never woke me up in the morning to get going for breakfast, although if I slept too long, we’d hit the Sunday rush. (sorry, Grampa Pete!) That was just Pete being himself, he always thought of other people first and made everyone feel special and that he loved them. Grandpa Pete loved traditions and it was always more fun with him around since he always joined in and helped, whether it was making Christmas cookies at Skip and Marilyn’s or eating too many Easter eggs. And the only person that could eat more at Christmas dinner than Pete that I know of is Pete’s grandson, CP. Pete got to live in his own home much longer than most people because his neighbors Kathy and Tim and Pete’s nearby family members cared and watched out for him. Grampa Pete was a courageous man, especially when he faced life alone without his wife, but he never complained (except about the trains, and who wouldn’t?). He wanted more than anything to be with his wife, but he was strong and didn’t wither away like so many men do in the same situation. He learned to do new things for himself, like balance his checkbook thanks to Marilyn! And he gave us a lot more years of love than most people. Although it is hard to say goodbye, Pete never asked for any special treatment and he always faced each day with strength, so that is why I am happy for him to finally be back with Teresa, which was what he wanted most. We love you, Grampa Pete!
K
Kathleen Wright posted a condolence
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Kathleen Jr,
I sorrow with you for the ways you will miss your Dad, and rejoice with you that he rests with the Love of all loves. Know that you are in my prayers this week, as you have been all through this journey.
P
Patrick Manning posted a condolence
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
In 2001, I moved to Indianapolis to take up a teaching job. While the job was good, I can't say I liked Indiana. One thing that was nice about it was being close enough to drive up to Chicago and visit Grandpa. Once a month or so Krista (my wife) and I would make the 4 hour trip up to Chicago and spend a couple of days with him. I can't say we did much besides go to Dappers and the Rainbow to eat, run errands, do occasional chores around the house and watch football or baseball, but it was always relaxing and grandpa always made us both feel we were welcome, liked, and at home.
What I do remember are the stories he used to tell. I don't remember him talking much when I was a child. He was more of a doer, fixing the motor home and anything else that needed it during his and Grandma's trips to the west coast during Christmas. During the five years we lived in Indiana though, he told us many stories (and often the same story many times) of his experiences growing up and of his young adulthood. Besides getting in trouble with the nuns, his mischevious doings with his sister, and his getting caught by various trains as more and more tracks crisscrossed Elmhurst, he would talk of his weekend trips up to Ernie's farm in Wisconsin. I hope people will put the stories they have heard here, but I just wanted to relate some images I have had in my head since hearing of his death.
I can picture a hot, sunny morning like only Chicago can have. Heat soaked into the humidity in the air, relieved a bit by the gentle breeze whispering the leaves in the trees. Pete, Theresa, Pat, and Kathy walk out the back door, the screen door banging behind Peter after he makes sure it is locked. The car is in the driveway, sparkling clean, loaded and ready to go. The girls get in the back, kneeling on the seats to look through the back window, sometimes crawling on the shelf, a safe fort as the world drifted by. The car backs out of the drive and turns onto Rex as it begins to make its way to US83 and Wisconsin. I know Grandpa must have had deep contentment on those mornings. He gave his family a home to live in, food to eat, and could take them in the car he made sure was in tip top shape for a fund day in the country with relatives.
I don't picture the rest but I like to think about it. My mom (Kathy) told me she always thought Wisconsin was really close because they got there so fast. In turns out, Grandpa drove the route at top speed. He told us there was one town where the cops would just be waiting for him to come through. He told us of all the ways he would outsmart them (not by slowing down, but by using unlikely roads). Once, when chased, his cousin and him missed a corner, and put the car in the ditch, but still weren't caught.
I don't think it was wanting to break the law so much as it was wanting to use a machine (the machine he loved the most, cars) to its full capacity and the police were interfering with that. He told us of the time he and his father rebuilt an engine and halved the tolerances for the pistons in order to get every last bit of efficiency and speed from the engine. The pistons were so tight, they had to drive the souped up car at 25 miles an hour for a month or it would overheat.
Grandpa was fascinated by the mechanics of how things worked. On one visit, he spent an hour (his fingers no longer had the sense of feeling they once did) repairing a slider that closed a plastic bag, not because he needed the plastic bag but to understand how the device worked. Once he figured it out, he explained it to me. But Grandpa was also creative and turned his mechanical ability to making jewelry. In my teens, Grandpa gave me and my brother and my sister jewelry. I got a belt buckle, a bolo tie, and silver collar tips. The bolo tie has a freeform design of layered melted silver all polished to a perfect gloss. The collar tips had an elaborate design chased into the metal. He knew that I liked silver better than gold, and contemporary more than traditional and he made me those items because he knew that this is what I would like. He made them for me. This is when I had a two foot tall Mohawk, by the way, though I don’t think it was died pink at the time. Grandpa didn’t care about how people were supposed to be, he cared about you. I love that I used his tools to fix up the house in Indianapolis and to do work here in Albuquerque, somehow it feels good to use his tools to fix something.
Grandpa loved his family. He loved people. Every time we came over, he would update us on what his nieces and nephews were up to, what their kids were doing, and what the kids of those kids were up to. He had photos of them all, all over the house. He knew the neighborhood kids as well and what each liked and didn't like. Several times when we came up, we would see the remnants of a party the neighborhood children had thrown him.
One thing that is great about being an academic is during the summers, your time is your own. Krista and I drove up to Washington at the beginning of June for a visit. This was a week after Grandpa latest bout with pneumonia and he moved in with my mom and dad. Mom took a leave of absence prior to her official retirement in June so between her and my Dad somebody could be around all the time to help. Grandpa had his recliner in the living room (on the right side if you are looking at the TV the same as it was in Elmhurst), the cut down table that was the corner table in Elmhurst was in the living room, and his dresser music stand and other furniture were in his bedroom.. Though he needed to be on oxygen much of the time and he wasn’t so steady on his feet, he was in good spirits. My parents had an event they had to attend at St. Martins one evening, so I stayed with grandpa. It was a rare hot day in Olympia (80 or so) so we went out on the back porch to sit in the breeze. While I threw a Frisbee and a ball for the dogs, we talked of my job, the new house in Albuquerque, how Krista was doing, what our plans were for summer. We laughed at the dogs antics and talked about how the cubs were doing and what they needed to do to improve. There were long silences. Mostly he wanted to make sure Krista and I were doing alright, and to simply enjoy some time around family in the pleasant shade on the back porch (while making sure I closed the door each time a dog opened it so we didn’t air condition the outside).
I was surprised (though I shouldn’t have been) when he decided to move from his home of over fifty years not to a local retirement home, but two thousand miles west to Olympia, WA. I shouldn’t have been. My brother had just had a daughter, Ella, Pete’s great-granddaughter. He also had a daughter, son-in-law, and grandson and grand daughter there. On the last day of my visit, Ella (who is terrified of me) and grandpa played for hours together on the couch separated by 92 years in age chatting amiably together, discussing books and toys and laughing frequently.
I will miss his unqualified love for me, for family. Sorry to have gone on for so long and for the writing quality. I just wanted to say some of the things I have been thinking about.
V
Valerie & Jim Howie posted a condolence
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Kathleen & Family,
Our condolences to you all, you will be in our thoughts and hearts.
Thanks for letting us know.
lovingly,
Valerie & JIm
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Dick and Terry Elofson posted a condolence
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Praying for all of you during this time of sorrow. May you always keep his sweet memories with you. How nice for him that he had such a wonderful family in which to spend his last days on this earth.
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