Lois Helen (Ritter) Gerse passed away peacefully on Tuesday, at the age of 96, in Rock Island, Illinois. Services will be 1 pm, Monday at First Lutheran Church, Moline. There will be no visitation. Inurnment will be 10:30 am, on Tuesday in the Rock Island National Cemetery. Those wishing to attend the services at the cemetery should meet at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, Rock Island at 10 am, on Tuesday.

Lois was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a New Year's Day blessing to her parents John and Helen (Partridge) Ritter. The third of six children, Lois fondly recalled a childhood with little money but lots of adventure, especially during the summers spent at her grandparents' farm in Minnesota. Her father was a bookkeeper for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad (known as the "Milwaukee Road") and was eventually transferred to Chicago, where Lois graduated from Taft High School in 1945. Upon graduating from the Minnesota School of Business in Minneapolis, Lois worked for the Milwaukee Road for eight years.

A lifelong Lutheran, Lois met her future husband, Bill Gerse at Jefferson Park Lutheran Church in Chicago, where they were married on July 9, 1955. The newlyweds moved to Lafayette, Indiana, where their two sons Steven and David were born, and then to Lombard, Illinois, where they adopted their daughter Linda. Besides raising her three children, Lois was known as the "neighborhood Mom" for her willingness to care for the neighbor kids while their mothers worked, lunched, or ran errands. The family moved to Coal Valley, Illinois in 1979, where Lois was active in her local church, the Valparaiso University Guild and other volunteer programs, and enjoyed creating beautiful crafts for the home. Most recently, Lois and Bill were members of First Lutheran Church in Moline, where Lois was involved in the Quilters club and WELCA (Women's Evangelical Lutheran Church Association). Through the years, Lois particularly enjoyed catching up with her siblings and families at the annual "Ritterfest" celebration.

Lois is survived (and already missed) by Bill, her husband of 68 years, sons Steve Gerse (Marion) of Woodland Hills, CA, and Dave Gerse (Jackie) of Overland Park, KS, and daughter Linda Wuerzburger (Dan Lavine) of Erie, Il. She is also survived by eight grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, and her sisters Marilyn, Audrey, and Nancy, and was preceded in death by her sister Jean and brother Jack. The family wishes to thank the staff of Friendship Manor and Promedica Hospice for their excellent and compassionate care.