Obituary of Richard Albert Rathke

Richard Albert Rathke was born in Grape, Michigan on June 21, 1927. He is the son of the late Albert and Bertha (Loos) Rathke. He attended Bridge School and was a member of Crosswalk Community Church in Monroe. Richard married the love of his life, Dorothea Irene Bays in 1983. At the age of fifteen he went to work at a paper mill and became the assistant to the box-maker. He worked as a dairy farmer and was a self-employed carpenter most of his life. Richard also worked for Banas & Wrobel building homes. He eventually retired from the City of Monroe’s Department of Public Services. Richard was a prolific vegetable gardener. He enjoyed hunting and just being in the woods. He was also a master woodworker who made Christmas presents by hand for his family every year. He loved his family very much; whatever his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were doing he liked to be a part of. Richard was a calm and even tempered man who saw the humor in everything. His comforting smile and the twinkle in his eye made him a wonderful person to be around. Richard, age 89, passed away at ProMedica Monroe Regional Hospital on Monday, August 8, 2016. Along with his parents he is preceded in death by his daughter Mary (Frost) Danzeisen, his sisters Viola Pope, Helen Kinsey, and Margaret Younglove, grandchildren Robin Frost and Jason Gayer, and former wife Marie (Bonk). To cherish his memory Richard leaves his wife, Dorothea Irene (Bays) Rathke; sister, Cora Salo of Ida; children, Victoria (Dennis) Hobbs of Dryden, Virginia, Richard (Janet) Rathke of Sault St. Marie, Diane (Mark) Gayer of Petersburg, Joseph (Lesley) Rathke of Temperance, Daniel (Annette) Rathke of LaSalle; step-children Teresa (Dale) Hayford, Linda (Robert) Shipman, Charlene (Foster) Schmitt, Edie (Lonnie) Poupard; twenty-seven grandchildren; forty-six great grandchildren; and five great-great grandchildren. Friends may gather on Friday, August 12, 2016 from 1:00-8:00pm at Merkle Funeral Service, South Monroe, 14567 South Dixie Highway, (734) 241-7070. Friends may also gather on Saturday, August 13 from 9:00am until the funeral service at 10:00am at Merkle’s. Procession will follow to Roselawn Memorial Park in LaSalle, Michigan for burial. Donations can be made to the Salvation Army. Online guests may leave words of comfort and inspiration or share a photo by visiting www.merklefs.com then select add a memory.