Mary Ruth Kainer, 91, of Victoria, passed away peacefully on Saturday September 5, 2020. She was born March 18, 1929 in Austwell, TX to Victor P. and Gertrude Migura Strelczyk. A lifelong Catholic, she married Winfred A. Kainer in February 1960, at St. Mary’s in Victoria, and they enjoyed 57 years together before his death in 2017.
Mary Ruth was much loved and respected by her family and friends. She is survived by one daughter, Brenda K. Fabian and husband Jerry, and one son, Duane W. Kainer and wife Sherry, four grandchildren Amanda Fabian, Miles Fabian (Caitlin), Madalynn Kainer, and Austin Kainer, and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by two sisters, Frances Reissig and Katherine (Schustereit) Luttrell, and five brothers, Herman, Leon, Albin, Marcellus and Victor E. Strelczyk.
She attended Wood Hi School, and graduated from Patti Welder High School in 1946. After graduation and during the 1950s, she worked at Victoria businesses Duke and Ayres, Mode O’Day and The Village Pharmacy. After marriage, Mary Ruth joined Winfred as a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, serving as a Eucharistic minister, and quilting with members of the Sewing Circle; she also was an active member of the OLL Altar Society, and in 1989, she was one of the first chairpersons of the OLL Fall Festival currently held at the Community Center. She received the Archbishop Fury award in 1975, and a Pope John Paul II Apostolic Blessing in the early 1980s.
She was also the bookkeeper for the family farm operation and seed sales business. For her efforts as a 10 –year Wood Hi 4-H Club Adult Leader, she was awarded a Distinguished Volunteer State 4-H Award in 1980. She loved cooking and baking, sewing , canning and preserving, working in her flowerbeds and gardening, hosting domino parties and family celebrations, and donating her needlework items, and much-appreciated pickles and jellies to church and community auctions. She also taught kolache-making classes for several years. She very much enjoyed playing dominoes and cards, and in her later years, bingo and Rummikub. Mary Ruth was an active member of the DaCosta Sons of Hermann Lodge for 31 years, also serving as the lodge secretary for 29 years. Winfred and Mary Ruth also enjoyed participating in the German Club and traveling with friends.
Visitation will be available from 3PM to 6PM on Thursday, September 10 at Rosewood Funeral Chapel in Victoria. The Rosary will be recited at 9:30 AM on Friday September 11, 2020, followed immediately by the funeral mass at 10 AM at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church with the Rev. Greg Korenek officiating; the Rosary will be recited by the OLL Ladies Rosary Ministry. A private burial will follow. Pallbearers will be grandsons Miles Fabian and Austin Kainer, nephews Bill Schustereit, Harol Reissig, and Thomas Kilgore, and grand-nephew Chris Schustereit.
Memorials can be made to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Victoria, Texas.
Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.rosewoodfuneralchapel.com.
