Viola J. Rath

LANARK, Ill. — Viola J. Rath, age 84, of Lanark, Illinois, died Tuesday, November 16, 2009, at FHN Memorial Hospital, Freeport, Illinois. A funeral service will be held 11:00 a.m. Monday, November 23, 2009, at Trinity Lutheran Church, rural Mt. Carroll. Burial will be in the Lanark Cemetery, Lanark, Illinois. Visitation will be held from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, November 22, 2009, at the Frank-Law-Jones Funeral Home, Mt. Carroll. A memorial fund has been established in Viola’s memory. Online condolences and tributes may be sent to the family at www.lawjonesfuneralhome.com.

Viola was born July 28, 1925, in Fairhaven Township, the daughter of George and Fannie (Hartman) Knoess. She is a graduate and co-salutatorian of the Chadwick High School with the Class of 1943. On February 11, 1945, Viola married Joseph Rath.

Viola farmed with her husband, Joseph, for twelve years near Chadwick and then near Lanark for fifty years. She was a faithful homemaker and enjoyed time with family.

Viola was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Mt. Carroll, where she was an officer of the Ladies Aid and a member of Lutheran Women‚s Missionary Society Great River Circuit. She was a member of the Chadwick Lamplighter Homemakers, the 4-Cs, and with her husband, a member of the Carroll County Farm Bureau.

Viola will be dearly missed by her husband, Joseph Rath, of Lanark; two sons, Henry (Gail) Rath of Lake Zurich, Illinois, and the Reverend James (Janet) Rath of Lake Mills, Wisconsin; eight grandchildren, Christopher, Jennifer (Kerry) Rea, Jeremiah, Amy, Dan, Tim, Julie and Katie; two great-grandchildren, Eddie and Leah Rea.

Viola was the last surviving member of the Knoess family.

She is preceded in death by her parents; and three sisters, Hilda Knoess, Irene Wood and Helen Becker.

Death date: Nov. 16, 2009

Text Only