Lois Audrey (Hoffman) Rued

1929-2023

Lois Audrey (Hoffman) Rued, age 94, entered this world on Oct. 12, 1929, being born to Oscar and Minnie Hoffeditz. She received the name of Mabel Minnie. She had four living brothers, plus one that died as a baby. She was the little girl that her family wanted. However, a few days after her birth, her mother died. Soon she was adopted by Frank and Anna Frances Hoffman. Frank was a farmer; he was also teaching school where the two oldest Hoffeditz sons were attending, so they knew of the heartbreak the family felt. Frank and his wife had one grown son F. DeWitt, so they all agreed to give this new baby a home. They changed her name to Lois DeWitt and gave her the middle name of Audrey.

DeWitt later moved back to Iowa, where the family was originally from, and when Lois was seven years old, her mother died. When Lois was in the 6th grade, the family moved to Iowa, living on an adjoining farm of DeWitt’s and his wife Marion.

Lois graduated from Maynard High School in 1947; she attended college in Cedar Falls, and taught school for one year. She did several other things in her younger years, such as being a nanny in Oak Park, Ill., working in a radio factory. She also worked in a hospital, in the obstetrics section and working as a housekeeper. While working in a factory, she was required to provide a birth certificate to prove her American citizenship. It was then they found out for a certainty, that she was adopted. She met two of her birth brothers, who had also been adopted and in a trip back to Wisconsin to visit them, she met her husband-to-be, Stephen Rued.

When Lois was working as the second cook in Western Home, Cedar Falls, Iowa, she and Steve were married on Dec, 6, 1957, in the chapel there, by the Rev. Dr. Ward B. Tarr. And so she came back to Wisconsin, to spend the rest of her life. She and Steve had one son, Alan David. After Alan was school age, Lois went to work as a laundress at the Havenet Nursing Home in Owen. From there she transferred to the Frederick Post Company, which became Teledyne, and from there she retired. She also helped on the farm, in the fields and in the barn. She always had cats that she loved and a dog that was always part of the family too. Steve passed away on Friday, April 13, 2012, after 54 years with Lois. She went to join him on Dec. 10, 2023. Lois is survived by her son, Alan David; many nieces and nephew, both from her birth family, her adopted family and Steve’s family.

She was predeceased by both sets of parents; her father & mother-in-law, Paul & Marion Rued; all of her brothers; her best friend, Lucy Kaehn; her niece, Mary Anne Hoffman; and her nephew Jonathan Whitney.

Lois enjoyed life; a good joke, a happy laugh, a love of God- which she occasionally shared with friends and her favorite job was driving for her Mennonite friends. She will be missed.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 15, 2023 at Maurina-Schilling Funeral Home in Owen. Scott Johnson will officiate. Interment to follow at St. Paul’s Norwegian Cemetery in the Town of Hoard. Family and friends are welcome from 9 a.m. until time of service Friday at the funeral home.

Family and friends may express condolences online at www.maurinaschilling.com.

Paid Obituary 146112