Ruth Alice Zill

Ruth Alice Zill, age 82, passed away peacefully November 4, 2021, at her daughter’s home in Plymouth, Wisconsin. 

Ruth Alice Peterson was born January 15, 1939, at her maternal grandparents’ home in Britt, Iowa, the oldest child of Hazel Ionia (Boldt) and Emmanuel Ole Peterson.  She attended rural schools near Britt and Forest City, Iowa before starting 9thgrade in Britt Community School.  She graduated from Britt Community School in 1956. She grew up attending the Upper Flat Evangelical Free Church of which she was a member for many years. She attended Trinity College in Chicago (now in Deerfield, Illinois), graduating in 1962. She received her Masters degree from Mankato State College in Mankato, Minnesota.  She taught school in Millersburg and Rockwell-Swaledale, Iowa from 1962 to 1965.  She moved to Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin in 1965.  She taught school at various schools in the area including Sheboygan Falls, Howards Grove, Immanuel Lutheran and Trinity Lutheran in Kiel.

Ruth married Royce Otto Thalheim in 1967.  Three Children were born to this union-Rebecka Ruth, Robert Royce, and Richard John Thalheim.  In 1987 she married Elmer Myron Zill. Geoffrey Elmer (Jeff) Zill joined them in 1994. After the death of her husband Elmer in 2003, Ruth and her son Jeff moved to Crystal Lake, Iowa to be closer to her family.  She moved back to Wisconsin in October and was living with her daughter at the time of her death.

Ruth loved music and was active in her church wherever she lived playing the organ, singing in the choir and teaching in Sunday School.  She also enjoyed watching the swans and geese on Crystal Lake in Iowa and spending time with other senior citizens for coffee in Crystal Lake.

She is survived by 4 children: Rebecka (Chad), Robert, Richard and Jeff (fiancée Vanessa); seven grandchildren: Cecilia (boyfriend Joseph Perman), Emilio (Alyssa), Alex and Grace (fiancé Niels Berg), Lydia, Holly and Richard; and 9 great-grandchildren: Anabelle, Kylie, Mason, Logan, Cameron, Olivia, Maximus, Lorelei, and Nora. She is further survived by three brothers and one sister: Paul (Marsha) Peterson, Neal (Alice) Peterson, Lindy (LaMae) Peterson, and Hazel Peterson and other relatives and friends. Ruth was preceded in death by both husbands: Royce Thalheim and Elmer Zill; her parents: Emmanuel and Hazel (Boldt) Peterson; one brother: David Peterson and other relatives.

A funeral service for Ruth will be held 11 AM, Friday, November 12, 2021 at Wittkopp Funeral and Cremation Services, 123 South St., Plymouth with Rev. Peter Peitsch of Grace Lutheran Church in Elkhart Lake officiating. Burial will be in Saxon Cemetery, Manitowoc County. Family and friends may gather for visitation at the funeral home from 10 AM until time of service.

Ruth’s family would like to extend their sincere appreciation to St. Nicholas Hospital and the chaplain there along with St. Nicholas Home Health and Hospice for their kindness and compassion.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.lakeshorefamilyfuneralhomes.com.