Lois Ruth (Stettbacher) Zinniel

Lois Ruth (Stettbacher) Zinniel, age 90, died peacefully under Hospice care at Hope Health and Rehabilitation Center in Lomira, WI, on October 14, 2024. She was born in Lomira, WI at her Grandmother Emma Unferth’s home on November 8th, 1933. She was the younger of two daughters to Alvin Carl Stettbacher and Irene (Unferth) Stettbacher.

Lois was a 1951 graduate from Lomira High School where she was the class president. She then graduated from St. Agnes School of Nursing in 1954 and took a nursing position at St. Agnes Hospital until 1963. She also worked for the United States Post Office in Fond du Lac and had a rural postal route in the mid-seventies and was a RN at Fond du Lac County Mental Health Center until her retirement. Through the years, she also enjoyed working with her husband, Leo, at the Elks Club in Fond du Lac.

In 1956, she met her husband-to-be when he was her patient at St. Agnes. She married Leo C. Zinniel on July 2, 1960, at Salem Church in Lomira. He preceded her in death on November 24, 2017. Lois enjoyed cooking, sewing, canning, baking, and loved to garden as a master gardener. She was an active member of Church of Peace in Fond du Lac and would volunteer her time with the church bazaar, spaghetti dinners, Loaves and Fishes, and various other events.

She is survived by her son, Thomas P. (Debra) Zinniel of Lomira; her son-in-law, Jack Hando of Fond du Lac; her grandsons, Nicholas (Vanessa) Zinniel, Alexander (Jenna) Hando, Benjamin (Kendra) Hando; and seven great-grandchildren. 

Visitation will take place on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, from 10:00 AM until 12 noon at Church of Peace, 158 S. Military Road, Fond du Lac, WI, 54935. A funeral service will follow the visitation at church at 12 noon. Entombment will take place at Shrine of Rest Mausoleum, Ledgeview Memorial Park. 

She is preceded in death by her husband Leo C. Zinniel, her daughter Andrea Jean (Zinniel) Hando, her parents Alvin Carl and Irene (Unferth) Stettbacher and her sister Ilene (Stettbacher) Stephany.

 She is also preceded in death by her beloved dogs Bugger, Sandy, Dusty, Charlie, Lucy, Stella and Luke.

Memorials may be directed to the Fond du Lac Humane Society.

 Services are in the care of Uecker-Witt Funeral Home, 524 North Park Avenue, Fond du Lac, WI, 54935. Additional information and guestbook can be found at ueckerwitt.com