Ruth 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 9 th grade 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.