Catherine ?Kay? Schuetze

COLUMBUS JUNCTION ? Catherine ?Kay? Louise Schuetze, 80, of Columbus Junction, died Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, in Kavanagh House Hospice in Des Moines.

A Mass to honor her is scheduled for 9 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 31, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Columbus Junction. A private burial service in Paxico, Kansas, with family members will follow. Memorials may be made to the Nancy Kent Animal Shelter in Muscatine.

Mrs. Schuetze was born Aug. 28, 1935, the daughter of Tim and Louise Cummings. She married Lawrence Roger Schuetze on July 3, 1954, in Kansas City, Kansas.

She graduated from Bishop Ward High School in Kansas City in 1953. She and her husband made their home in Manhattan, Kansas, where he graduated from Kansas State University. After a series of moves, she and her husband settled in Columbus Junction in 1965. She worked for many years at Thatcher Manufacturing in Muscatine, and later at Moore Business Forms in Iowa City. Her most rewarding position, however, was working at a group home for the developmentally disabled in Iowa City. She was an accomplished basketball player in high school, and later enjoyed tennis and many spectator sports. Always sharing a love for music, she played the saxophone and recorder when she was younger. Her greatest joy was her family. She enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren. She had a strong fondness for animals.

Surviving are two sons, Charles and wife Heidi of Anchorage, Alaska, and Martin and wife Robin of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota; one daughter, Patricia Turner and husband Quinn of West Des Moines; and five grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Roger; two sons, Dan, and Brian; and one brother, Ralph Cummings.