Dorothy Kathryn Ruppert was born at home on August 14th, 1931, to Leo and Louise Ackerman Hofstadter on their farm near Currie, and she died peacefully on August 3, 2021.
She attended rural school, Westbrook High School and graduated from Lamberton Teacher College. She taught all eight grades in a one-room schoolhouse before being promoted to Currie Elementary, where she taught only four grades, for two years. She began dating Raymond Ruppert after a Bible study in Currie, where they both were attending Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. They were married on February 13th, 1954, at IHM Church in Currie. Their love was planted in their shared deep faith and in the black dirt of the family farm, which has yielded bounties for generations.
Dorothy loved being a farm wife and mother. She enjoyed her garden on the farm, where she grew vegetables and flowers and preserved enough for the next year. She loved her animals, especially her house cats. She was the best cook ever, always had something cooking on the stove and could extend a meal for whomever squeezed around the table. She had a hot breakfast ready every day; baked cakes, cookies, and bread; and made great popcorn balls. She made angel food cakes for birthdays and whistled while she worked. Dorothy was able to stay on the farm throughout her illness due to the generosity of her family and caregivers up to the last month.
Dorothy helped start the Currie Poco-a-Poco 4-H club. She really got her second wind when she and her lifelong friend Louise Gervais teamed up together to create End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum. They loved finding just the right items and driving miles to convince someone that they wanted to donate railroad items to the park. Writing was Dorothy’s forte; her writing helped gain many grants to build up the park.
Dorothy also wrote the grant that made the local 6-mile paved bike trail a reality. IHM Church in Currie was at the center of Dorothy and Ray’s life. Dorothy was a CCD teacher and a substitute teacher for IHM school. She and her older sister Dolores taught RCIA; helping many prepare to join the church. She enjoyed serving communion and participating as a lector. Dorothy was a Guild Leader, a member of Catholic Daughters, and often held Bible studies in her own home. Dorothy’s community activism reached outside Currie. She and Ray were volunteers for the DFL. She served as Murray County Co-Chair for several years. Ray and Dorothy were lucky to travel to different places with the Pioneer seed company including Hawaii, Mexico, and Jamaica and on their own to Europe and numerous family vacations. Dorothy had a great love of reading with a pile of books waiting when housework was finished. She passed on to her children this love, bringing them to the library weekly. She made sure the house was surrounded by colorful flowers. She regularly tuned in to the Minnesota Twins and the Vikings. She loved going to auctions hoping for a great find. She enjoyed refinishing furniture and she kept her sewing machine ready to patch all sorts of jeans and overalls. Her door was always open to everyone.
Dorothy is preceded in death by her parents, and her loving husband, Raymond, and a son Paul (d. 2016); sister Dolores Schmitt and husband Bob, sister Darlene and husband Duane Farrell, sister-in-law Leslie Hofstadter (Leo). She is also preceded by all of Raymond’s siblings and in-laws. She is survived by sons Karl (Kim), Matthew (Tammy); daughters Rebecca (Francis Biesanz), Ramona (Rebecca Maher) Ruppert, Jodi (Kent) Shaw; grandchildren Eryn and Anna, Stephanie, Tory, Karly and Joe, Joshua and Kelli, Magdalene, Eli and Isaiah, Lydia and Muriel, Chase, Sadona, Garhrett, Rupert and Judah; and 14 great grandchildren. Dorothy is also survived by sisters Evelyn (John Lund), Leone (Frank Arendt), Mary (Ed Sweetman) and brother, Leo Hofstadter.
Funeral services will be at IHM Church in Currie, MN on Friday, August 13, 2021, at 10:30 a.m. with MSGR R. Paul Heiting officiating. The organist is Patty LeClaire. The song leader is Ken Schmitt. The pallbearers are her grandchildren. Interment is at Calvary Cemetery in Currie.
Visitation will be one hour prior to the services at the church on Friday. Totzke Funeral home of Slayton is entrusted with arrangements. To send condolences visit totzkefuneralhome.com