BIOGRAPHY:
Daughter of: John Michael5 Lehmann |
In Loving Memory of My Mother
Rita Marie Margaret (Lehmann) Shields
Rita Marie Margaret (Lehmann) Shields
by
Audrey Ann7 (Lehmann-Shields) Hancock
RITA MARIE MARGARET LEHMANN, 11th child of John Michael Lehmann and Mary Catherine Mills, was born 30 May 1913 at the family home at 1140 South (later South Roosevelt) Avenue in Piqua, Miami Co., OH on traditional Memorial Day. She had interrupted a planned family picnic, and her siblings kiddingly reminded her of that fact throughout her life. Rita was baptized in the Roman Catholic faith at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Piqua, Miami Co., OH and the same birthdate is found on the church record. She joined Catherine, Jennie, Al, Lee, Heine, Jean, Mart, and Gert in the make-up of the family. Two brothers Francis and Gerhard were deceased as infants. All of these eight living children plus Rita survived into late adulthood.
Front: L>R: Mary holding Rita, Gert, and John
Certified Birth Certificate
Rita was called "Wee Wee" by her brother, Martin, and then became affectionately known as "Wee Wee" by many of her nieces and nephews. Rita recalled, "He [Martin] always called me 'WeeWee,' never Rita, and another name I'd like to forget...Shit Pot!" Sometimes he'd call me 'WeeWee Manure.' I don't know why, probably just for the fun of it."
Rita was told that because her mother was quite sickly following her birth that her eldest sister, Catherine, cared for her. "Mom said as a baby that I was no trouble, for if I cried someone would pick me up for a while from the carriage that was usually kept in the kitchen. Mom said that "Sis" [Marjorie Craig], a family fried, used to hold me and be with me alot. She died about seventeen from tuberculosis (aka consumption). I think Mom worried that I might get it."
"My sisters told me that I walked at nine months, and I was so small that I could walk under the tables, and that there were little finger prints in the butter kept on the bottom shelf of the cupboard quite a lot."
[Rita]
There is a picture with Rita holding a poodle in her arms. She appears to be four or five years old. When asked about it, Rita responded, "I don't remember the poodle I was holding in the picture, but I remember Togo who got killed by a railroad hand car. Togo seemed to be the pet of the family."
The family spoke English for the most part, but a few German words would creep into Rita's communications now and then. She could say the Lord's Prayer in German and could sing some religious songs in German. Since their father was from a French/German background, the children attended the German Catholic St. Boniface School, where for many years only German was taught and spoken. The elder children of the Lehmann family were taught under this influence, but by the time Rita went to school, the practice of German only was fading out. Thus German only crept now and then into conversations. One word that she used frequently when explaining something to her daughters was "verstehst du", thus asking, "Do you understand?"
Rita could play the piano in those early years. However, she never had a piano in her later years, so it was very rare for her family to see and hear her play. By then, she would only play a simple tune. Karen recalled that "Mom, knew how to play 'Go tell Aunt Rodie the Old Gray Goose is Dead.' And I think part of a Christmas song."
Rita never had a bicycle. In July 1995 she recalled that one day she had gone with her mother to visit her aunt who had children. [NOTE: I would suppose that this aunt was Nancy Jane (Mills) Weis.] They had a bicycle and permitted Rita to ride it. That was the first and last time that she rode a bicycle. [NOTE: Nancy had a daughter named Mary who in later years looked a lot like Rita, perhaps both resembled their MILLS side of the family.]
Rita was beset as a small child attending school by various diseases of that time period...diptheria, which left her with a tachycardia heart in later years. She recalled this period in her life in this manner. "I was six years old when I started school, but had diphtheria. I went back to school after New Year's, got the measles and was pretty sick again, went back to school and had to be vaccinated. I got sick again, and this time Mom wouldn't send me back to school, so like Gert I was really seven years old when you could say I started to school." However, within a few years she would skip a grade which placed her back at the grade level she had lost due to the illnesses.
"When I had diphtheria the house was QUARANTINED, but they left the family come and go, but I had to stay in Mom and Dad's bedroom for three weeks. Mom would put on a big apron when she'd came and went from the bedroom. As I got better she put a big comforter in her special rocking chair for me to sit in a while. I had to learn to walk again. I remember the day that the QUARANTINED sign was taken down. Mom brought in a washtub, filled it with hot water, placed it by the register, scrubbed me, put clean clothes and a dress on me, opened the door that was almost always kept closed between the bedroom and living room, and shoved me through it. It was St. Nicholas Eve, December 6, 1919, and St. Nicholas had left something nice in Gert's and my socks. Then Mom put sulphur on a dustpan and burned it, going through the downstairs, particularly the bedroom where I had been. And...that year for Christmas Gert and I got a lot from Santa--doll buggies, China faced dolls, beaver hats, and new coats." That year for Christmas, Gert and I got a lot from Santa--doll buggies, china-faced dolls, beaver hats, and new coats. Rita said that her sister, Jennie, purchased many of the items for her younger sisters.
Rita was told that on one occasion of illness she was very close to death, and her mother, Mary, promised that if Rita recovered that she [Mary] would dress Rita in blue to honor the Blessed Mother. Rita survived, and blue became her color! So for the rest of her life, Rita's color was blue.
"As mentioned I didn't finish my first year in school due to my many illnesses." These childhood illnesses included: mumps, measles, chicken poxs, diptheria and scarlet fever. However, after that terrible year of bad health, she attended and finished elementary school at St. Boniface Catholic School, of German discipline, with nuns of the Sisters of Precious Blood. Rita made her first communion from St. Boniface Catholic Church probably at the age of seven. She indicated, "Most of the time I took my lunch to school, so I wouldn't have to hurry home and back at noon."
"The following years in school were just normal school years, but I do remember in the 5th and 6th grades (combined), while we were practicing Palmer Method Penmanship, Sister Metadora remarked as she passed my desk while going up and down the aisles checking penmanship, `You're going to be a big person. You've got big hands.' That remark stayed with me all my life and for years I felt like sitting on my hands to hide them." Well, Rita never was a big person, as she only reached the height of 5 ft. 3 in. and her hands evidently never grew much after that.
"Another incident happened when in the sixth grade that has stayed with me. On Friday afternoons the 5th and 6th graders went over to the 7th and 8th grade room for singing. One Friday as I sat with Gert, Sister Eustachia, the 7th and 8th grade teacher, who played the organ, must have seen or heard something she thought I said or did. She evidently blamed it on me. I'll never know what, because I really didn't do anything. She made me come up to the front of the room and stand in front of the four classes. I remember I bit my lips to keep from crying, and she slapped me. I don't know why unless she thought I was talking back or making a face at her. They said she came from a wealthy family, high strung, domineering, but to me she was just plain mean sometimes, but she was the same one who let Marie Burke and I take the 7th and 8th grades together in one year! So I went into high school the following year, putting me where I would have been had I not stopped school in the first grade."
Another thing I remember during the 7th and 8th grades was "Mission" year. They had them every three or five years. Dad took me once and bought me a little sort of embossed topped box that looked like a book about 1" x 1 1/2" with a little steel rosary in it. I gave the box to someone, but had the rosary until I was around 20 years old. Somehow it got lost. That was in early spring. I was 14 in May, and Dad died in August. That was the last thing he gave me, and he wasn't feeling his best then.
but it was not the one that came with it when her father gave it to her.
We do not know what happened to the small purple rosary.
The life she had known would soon come to an end, for at the age of fourteen her beloved father died. Rita recalled that the following years were tough years for herself and her sister, Gertrude. Unlike other girls with whom they spent their teenage years, they were not permitted to go out for casual "get-togethers." They could not buy goodies or items they wanted. Money was tight and thus not spent on such frivolous items. Rita recalled that she especially would have loved to have gone to what was known as "Chautauqua" with her friends.
[NOTE:Chautauqua was a series of educational / musical / philosophy / religion programs given across the country ... even in small towns ... for about 50 years. It started in 1880 or 1890 in Chautauqua, New York (hence the name) and by early 1900s traveling tent shows began touring during the summer to bring programs to all parts of the United States. Chautauqua movement ended in the 1930s.]
"I went the first year in high school at St. Boniface and then St. Boniface and St. Mary's was combined. Mom said she wasn't going to make me walk out to St. Mary's, so I was sent to the local public high school. I'd get a ride in the morning to Piqua High School. Dorothy Sexton or "Dodgie" Culpepper would take Dorothy, Marjorie, and me to school. After school I was usually on my own, as they had places to go and plans of their own. And, because money was scarce, I could not go with them at other times."
Piqua High School
Piqua, Miami Co., OH
Jack Quinlisk, husband of her sister Henrietta "Heine," worked at the Piqua Electric Mfg. Co. as a bookkeeper. "During the summer between my junior and senior year I worked there sending out advertisements for them, and then in my senior year things slowed down for them so they let the other girl go. I'd walk there as quickly as possible, get there by 3:30 P.M., take over the switchboard, take some dictations from Martin Bauer and Mike Hess. Mike was one of the owners and would come over from the factory late, most of the times, to dictate any letters and so many times it was 6:30 P.M. or a little later until I could leave. Sometimes he would say to write the letters the next day when I came in. I would work on Saturdays until noon or a little later."
"Later on when the Piqua Electric owed Nils Lungard so much money for making the aluminum propellers for them, Nils took over the Aerovent Fan and started his own company. Mike Hess and his family kept the motor part of the company. Aerovent asked me to work for them. It was in the Shawnee part of Piqua, a long walk to and from work, but it was worth it for the money and jobs were scarce.
"I remember: when the wind blew the grape arbor down and Dad rebuilt it; when Gert [sister], Leona [a friend], and I tried to see who could drink the most cups of water from that nice cold water from our outside pump until we got sick to our stomachs; when Leona sat on the board in the outhouse and dangled her feet in the hole and her shoe fell off; that we had a three-holer outside toilet...one that was for little children; the cistern at the side of the house; Gert and I chewing the gum from a slippery elm tree;" etc. [Read the rest of Rita's memories in her father's and mother's stories.]
"I think of the song called "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" when I tell this story. Jean [sister], Bob [Jean's husband], Bob's brother, George, and Bobby [Bob & Jean's son] were down home. I was standing by the old fashioned ice box with the book from which I was studying placed on top. Jean took a bottle of milk from the ice box and put the cap down my back. I must have opened my mouth and bent forward chipping my two front teeth with the back of the teeth breaking higher up. What was done in fun, didn't end in fun. I had to have gold inlays put on, but since they were chipped higher in the back the inlays kept falling off, so the dentist finally put in what he called pivots by breaking the teeth off at the gum line, drilled them below the gum line, and with metal pins cemented in he joined my replacement teeth to the broken ones. This probably happened about 1930."
"About 10 years later when I was having some health problems, Dr. Trostle said having one pivot tooth was bad enough healthwise and felt two could be causing the problem, so next came a partial plate hooking onto the first molar on each side. The dentist took out the replacement teeth and had to go below the gum line to remove the roots and he stitched the gum down at the center to make it look more natural at the gum line. Later the `hooks' on the molars gradually wore away those teeth and they could no longer be filled. Since I had lost three molars from pressure decay from my wisdom teeth, then came the upper dentures. All this resulted from a second of foolish fun! Jean always felt bad about this, but as we all know, there are things we do that we regret later."
1932
Rita was the only one in her family to complete high school. She graduated from Piqua High School at Piqua, Miami Co., Ohio in 1931.
Rita's Graduation Momentos
1931-1932
Front: Rita, Mart, Joe Beihl (future hus/o Gert), Eddie Meyer
Like her mother who sewed everything from underwear to winter coats, Rita, too, was a very creative seamstress. She could take "hand-me-down" items and make them into wearable clothing for her daughters. Rita was very conservative when it came to sewing, perhaps a trait carried over from lessons taught to her by her mother. She would very carefully remove thread from an item, save it, and use it in another item that she would sew at another time. Little ringlets of wrapped thread could be found near her sewing supplies.
Rita could knit, embroider, and crochet, as many girls learned to do in that time period.
Like her older sister, Gertrude, Rita also entered into an unfortunate marriage that would end in a civil divorce. At the age of 20, Rita found herself unmarried and pregnant, and in a circumstance that had to be resolved. On 10 August 1932, she married Harry McCawley at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and on 31 December 1932, Harry McCawley, Jr. was stillborn. The boy was buried 1 January 1933 at Forest Hill Cemetery, and this event would soon lead to the culmination of the marriage between Harry and Rita, as they soon divorced. Unlike her sister, Gertrude, Rita was able to obtain a church annulment.
Rita was very open to her daughters about this time in her life.
She remembered this unfortunate time like this:
"I had met Harry through another girl when I was a sophomore and a few times he'd pick me up after school to take me home or to work. He worked at a filling station where the shifts changed weekly. I think they stayed open until 10 P.M. We dated on and off. I didn't date others very much, but I'm sure he did. Frankly we were poor, so I didn't get too much to meet anyone very often, other than a few from school once in a while, but they didn't mean much. About time I'd date someone a few times, Harry would be back and date me for a while again. Guess he'd see me, for the gas station was on the corner of Roosevelt and Clark Streets, across from the Wood Shovel. Sometimes he'd drive through the alley that bordered outside the window of the room where I worked. Dating went on from 1929 to 1932. He was nice looking; had a car. I didn't have a steady, so guess I had fallen in love. We never really got much love at home in the way of kisses, hugs, and information on life. I wasn't promiscuous. It was just one time and it happened. I think I had had a couple of beers during the evening, but I often think that nature has a part in giving in--like a dog in heat. You have the will power until conception time and then your will power weakens. I just don't know."
"Then when I was married to Harry McCawley, (on August 10, 1932, Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, IN) I quit work. It wasn't very long until he'd not come home after work at the gas station...sometimes 2 A.M.. There was nothing I could do but wait it out. I miscarried a little boy on 31 Dec. 1932. I never saw him, but he is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery. Harry took me out one time. I remember it's on the corner where the roads came together, but I don't know the exact place. I never went back to see the gravesite. Catherine [Rita's sister] and his [Harry's] mother came to the hospital to tell me, but in the meantime, one of the nurses had told me he had died. I was so doped up for a couple of days that I don't remember much. When I realized things weren't going to change, and one month when I knew I was not pregnant again, I went home. I think the marriage lasted ten months."
Miami County, Ohio
No. 26835
Journal 73
Certificate of Divorce:
Rita Marie McCawley vs. Harry McCawley
Berry and McCulloch, Attorny for Plaintiff
During the interim, "Heine had a nervous breakdown and stayed in bed all the time, so I went there and stayed and worked for a few dollars a week and helped Jack. I requested an annulment through St. Mary's Church, where Jack and Heine went, and later filed for civil divorce which took 1 1/2 to 2 years and got in the divorce decree that Harry had to pay. [The divorce was finalized 26 May 1934. An annulment was granted 13 June 1934. ASH] I didn't date until after the divorce so that there would be no problems. Jack and Heine were very good to me and very supportive during that time in my life. Actually, I had a very loving family who gave me much encouragement and understanding."
Rita worked as a secretary and bookkeeper during the years that followed for the Ohio Bottle Cap Company in Piqua. She could write shorthand and was knowledgeable in bookkeeping. She had learned to drive and had a car of her own.
Apparently Dale was dating Rita at the time that this photo was taken.
She would eventually meet another who would become her lifetime partner. One summer day she was convinced to go on a picnic and there she met, through mutual friends, Dale Caleb Shields. "Dale had a date with my friend, Leona Craig, now Leona Drake, who was visiting on vacation. I went with some fellow who worked with Joe [Joe Beihl] at the Orr Felt & Blanket Co.. A few weeks later we had a date, through Gert [sister] and Joe, as Dale didn't have a car then. We double dated with Gert and Joe until Dale got a car." Dale continued courting Rita and their admiration for one another became evident.
When Dale was dating Rita, he presented her with this initialed [RL] vanity set. He also presented her with a jewelry box.
Rita married 4 September 1937 at St. Boniface Catholic Church Parsonage, Piqua, Miami Co., OH to Dale Caleb Shields, son of Raymond Dale and Sarah "Sally" Margaret (Creager) Shields. Their witnesses were her sister and brother-in-law, Heine (Lehmann) Quinlisk & Jack Quinlisk.
Rita writes a postcard to her place of employment while on her honeymoon. She states, "This is very pretty country down here. They call the 'mountains' 'hills' down here, but they're still 'mountains' to me. Dale & Rita"
Now in those days, a wife was expected to quit her job, so it was, that Rita became a full-time housekeeper. Her employment was remembered years later in this "FAMILY FOCUS" article of 1 Mar 1988 of the Piqua Daily Call, p.5, when Amy Sherwood recalled her own career in this article, and the role Rita had played in her life.
Dale and Rita moved into the upper converted duplex home of Rita's mother, Mary Catherine (Mills) Lehmann. The LEHMANN family home at 1138 Roosevelt Avenue had been converted into a duplex. The newly married couple lived in the upper apartment (1138 1/2) of this home, and Rita's mother, Mary, lived below. Rita cared for her mother and did housekeeping for her. Here their daughters, Sandra and Audrey, were born. Here the girls were reared for a time until 1946.
Taken at the Caleb Shields Homestead
Arcanum, Darke Co., Ohio
Residence here on Roosevelt Avenue brought much pleasure to both Dale and Rita. Almost every Saturday and Sunday, members of either or both LEHMANN and SHIELDS families would gather to visit and play cards, but the closeness of family ties were not to last, as necessity eventually took this SHIELDS family far from their hometown, family, and friends they loved.
This music box was given by Rita to her sister, Gertrude. Gert then returned it to Rita in later life. Rita was especially close to Gert since she was the older sister closest to Rita's age, even though there was a three year difference. Her other sisters were married and eventually no longer in Piqua except for Jean and Gert. In later life, Rita would take Gert here and there, as Rita could drive, but Gert couldn't.
Audrey and Sandra
1943-1944
A visit to Grandpa (Raymond) and Grandma (Sarah) Shields' farm home.
TO HER NEPHEWS
John [Johnnie] QUINLISK, Robert [Bobby] RITTENHOUSE, & Leonard [Joe] ZIMMER
WHILE THEY SERVED IN THE SERVICE
DURING WORLD WAR II
Rita had frequently made carbon paper copies of her letters to send to her three nephews in the service. Johnnie Quinlisk had saved these two and returned them to Rita years later.
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During World War II, hosiery for women was at a premium and almost impossible to get. Rita learned how to repair hosiery (hose) with this hook. With the hose stretched over a metal cylinder she would work meticulously to bring the running stitch to where it could be attached and sewed. One of the customers was Pauline King who lived next door to the LEHMANN family on Roosevelt Avenue. Even after Rita had moved to Illinois and Indiana, Pauline continued to send her hosiery to Rita for repair.
A MOVE FOLLOWS
Dale worked for the Piqua Bottle Cap Company. They made the paper flat bottle caps that went into the tops of the glass milk bottles of the time. He wanted to make a change in careers and go back to working for a newspaper. An opportunity arose that took our family to Beaumont, TX. Rita indicated, "In March Dale went down to Beaumont, TX to work and Rita, Sandra, & Audrey followed in May. Mart drove us down in our new Kaiser. It was after the war and cars weren't being made fast enough. You ordered a car and waited for delivery, but Mart was able to get the Kaiser (a new brand of car out, as they weren't selling very well. They were discontinued in a few years)."
Letter written to her sister, Gertrude (Mills-Lehmann) Beihl in Piqua, OH, on 25 July 1947, while she, Dale, Sandra, and Audrey were living in Beaumont, TX.
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MOVE BACK HOME
Rita did not particularly care for the new environment (spiders, snakes, insects, lizards, and creepie crawlers of all kinds)and missed her family. Knowing that Dale was working as a scab laborer instead of an union laborer, she was afraid of reprecussions. She convinced Dale to return to Piqua (1948). Upon returning he was able to go back to work for Piqua Bottle Cap Co., but soon after they sold out. The company moved to Oneida, NY leaving their employees out of work.
Upon returning to Piqua, the family was unable to move back into their duplex home even though they had continued paying rent. Rita's sister, Jean and family, had taken up residence in their place. Unable to locate a home or apartment to rent, the family moved into the country of home of Dale's parents who lived on a farm. This was also a sign of the times, as soldiers were returning from the war and housing to rent or buy was thus at a premium.
Spring 1949
The car was Kaiser.
THEN A MOVE TO DECATUR, ILLINOIS
For a time Dale went to Dayton, OH to work for a car manufacturer by working on the assembly line. He was unhappy there, and finally took a temporary newspaper job in Joliet, Illinois for a weekly newspaper. He left his family living with his parents [Raymond & Sarah (Creager) Shields] on the farm and returned weekends as he could. In 8 months the family moved to Decatur, Illinois where Dale had taken a job with the newspaper there. Here Rita helped Dale with correspondence courses so that he could get his journeyman's card.
1951
ANDERSON, INDIANA BECOMES NEW HOME
On one of the trips through Anderson, Madison Co., IN to Piqua, Rita convinced Dale to stop to inquire if there were openings at their local newspaper. He discovered that they were in the process of restructuring and combining newspapers, so a pressman position was available. Dale again left his family. Upon finding rental accommodations, the family was moved to Anderson. After about a year, they purchased a home and moved into 1715 Central Avenue. I [Audrey] was visiting Grandma Lehmann during this time and recall when I heard the news that I cried. I was so happy to learn that we were settling and there would be no more moving. Here Dale & Rita remained until Dale's retirement.
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, IN
ca 1953
Bess Huntzinger and Rita
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, IN
June 1956
Karen, Audrey, & Sandra
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, IN
June 1959
celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversaries
1962
at home of Joe & Gert
410 Wood Street
Piqua, Miami County, Ohio
Dale and Rita were married September 4, 1937.
Family members surprised them with a 25th Anniversary party and gave them each a 25th Anniversary Plate and 25th Anniversary Candy Bowl. In later years, both Rita and Gert passed one of their pieces to each of Rita's daughters, Sandra and Audrey, on their 25th Wedding Anniversary, who were both married in 1960. Each received either the plate or bowl, so that they had the set.
ca 1965
Prior to 1966
Left to Right: Sisters: Rita Shields, Jean Rittenhouse-Denman, Heine Quinlisk, Gert Beihl, & Jennie Zimmer
Left photo: Sisters: Rita, Jean, Heine (center/front), Gert, Jennie
Right Photo: Sisters: Rita, Jean, Heine (center/front), Jennie, & Gert
Secretary to the administrator at St. John's Hickey Memorial Hospital, Anderson, Indiana
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, IN
1969
at 1715 Central Avenue, Anderson, IN
celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary
on the same day that their daughter Karen marries.
Dale retired from Anderson Newspapers, Inc. and since their girls were married and living elsewhere, Dale and Rita moved back home to Piqua in August of 1972. Here they purchased a Cape Cod style home at 1518 Sweetbriar Avenue. Here they could again be with family members and old friends and acquaintances who were still around, although in the interim, all lives had changed. The fun times of their past was not to be resurrected except through memories. The close family ties had diminished in their absence. Times had changed. Here Dale suffered a fatal heart attack on July 1, 1982 at 74 years of age while relaxing after mowing the grass.
August, 1983
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Cook and debone one old hen, save broth. Mix together: 5 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp. salt 3 level tbsp. lard (shortening) 2 tsp. baking powder After mixing, add 1-1 1/2 cups cold water Blend as with pie dough, then roll out. Using table knife, cut rolled out dough into 1-1 1/2 in. squares. Drop into boiling chicken broth, and cook. When cooked, add deboned chicken pieces. Cover and continue cooking on low for 30 minutes. |
Beat one egg. |
4 cups flour |
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Mix together: 2 cups flour 1 cup sugar 2 tbsp. cocoa 1 tsp. vanilla 1 cup Miracle Whip 2 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 1 cup hot water Blend with beaters. Grease and flour 9 x 9 cake pan. Pour mixture into baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. For a flatter cake, spread into 9 x 12 baking pan. For a larger cake, double the recipe and place in 9 x 12 baking pan, then bake for about an hour. |
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(SLOPPY JOES) 2 lbs. hamburger (ground beef) |
8 lbs. tomatoes |
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2 lb. beef roast (Boiled for 2 hrs.) |
2 cups scalded milk |
Pre-bake a white or yellow cake in rectangular pan and cool. |
Visit Jack & Heine (Lehmann) Quinlisk
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Prior to 1974
Dale a& Rita (Lehmann) Shields & Joe & Gert (Lehmann) Beihl
Gert & Joe and Rita & Dale
Rita had numerous diseases and ailments in her lifetime. Mumps, measles, chicken pox, diptheria and scarlet fever came in childhood. A lifetime of tachychardia followed due to her bout with diptheria. She had an appendectomy in 1945. Histoplasmosis was discovered when she was about 60 years of age. Rita had a historectomy in the early 1960s. Her gall bladder was removed shortly after the move to Piqua 1972-1973. In 1974 her heart was checked via heart catherization, as her bouts of tachychardia worsened. In 1990 she was checked for lupus via a Bio-lateral Temporal Artery Biopsy which turned up negative. She had a hemmorhoidectomy and pyloroplasty. She was diagnosed with PolyMyelia Rheumatica in 1991 and suffered from congestive heart failure and migraine headaches as she aged. A stroke was noted by 1993.
After Dale's death, Rita continued to live for some time at their Piqua home, but eventually she sold their home and moved to Indianapolis to be near her daughters, Karen, who would become her caregiver, and Sandra. She first moved into a retirement apartment, but later took up residency in the home of Darrell & Karen Richey. She remained reclusive and did not take part in any of the senior activies. Her life had been built around Dale and her girls. She had been on oxygen for a couple of years prior to her death. On Tuesday, January 9, 1996 Rita had a very high fever and flu symtoms, but by Wednesday evening she appeared to have weathered that flu for she worked on her 1996 quarterly taxes. However, sometime during that night her fever returned and by 3:30 P.M. Thursday she was in the hospital with Karen having given authorization to resusitate her not knowing what was happening.
After a night of unresponsiveness, unconsciousness, and convulsions, Rita's daughters (Sandra, Audrey, & Karen) reluctantly asked the doctor the next morning to cut life support, as it was always her wish not to be kept alive indefinitely when the result would not prove to be to her advantage. Tubes and life support were withdrawn, and with family encircling her hospital bed, Rita peacefully fell into a permanent sleep, and her spirit left the aged body. Rita Marie (LEHMANN) SHIELDS died 13 January 1996 at Community North Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana from sepsis (infection) streptococcus pneaumonea which caused meningitis of the brain. Her body was placed in the care of Flanner & Buchanan Mortuaries in Indianapolis and transported to Piqua, Ohio for burial. She was buried 16 January 1996 at Forest Hill Cemetery, Piqua, Miami County, Ohio next to her husband of many years.
1138 1/2 South Roosevelt Avenue
Piqua, OH
May 1947 to August 1947
3115 Gilbert Street
Beaumont, TX
Sep. 1947 to Nov. 1949
R. R. Demming Road
Piqua, OH
Country farm home with Raymond D. & Sarah (Creager) Shields
Nov. 1949 to Nov. 1951
1812 E. Main Street
Decatur, IL
Nov. 1951 to Aug. 1952
111 Delaware Street
Anderson, IN
Aug. 1952 to Aug. 1972
1715 Central Avenue
Anderson, IN
Aug. 1972 to 1987
1518 Sweetbriar Avenue
Piqua, OH
Rita continued living here after Dale's death for a time.
1987 to 1989
8480 Craig St., Apt. 220 Indianapolis, IN
Retirement apartment for Rita
1989 to January 1996
Indianapolis, IN
Rita lived with her daughter and son-in-law, Karen & Darrell Richey
And together, Dale and Rita rest eternally at Forest Hills Cemetery.
VISIT:
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- Mary "Sandra" Iris Barbara SHIELDS
- "Audrey" Ann Patricia SHIELDS
- "Karen" Eileen SHIELDS
- Catherine Mary6 LEHMANN
- Johanna "Jennie" Nora Francisca6 LEHMANN
- Albert "Al" Henry6 LEHMANN
- Leo "Lee" Martin6 LEHMANN
- Henrietta "Heine" Catherine6 LEHMANN
- Regina "Jean" Cecelia6 LEHMANN
- Martin "Mart" Michael6 LEHMANN
- Francis Henry6 LEHMANN
- Gerhard John6 LEHMANN
- Gertrude "Gert" Philomena6 LEHMANN
- Rita Marie Margaret6 LEHMANN
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