| Notes |
- PRIVATE
- «b»Grizelda M Stute «/b»
Nov. 27, 1908 - Sept. 21, 2012
SOUTH BEND - Grizelda M. Stute, 103, passed away Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, at the Sanctuary at St. Paul's, South Bend. Mrs. Stute was born on Nov. 27, 1908, in Wyoming, Iowa, to the late John W. and Mary (Tasker) Morse.
Zelda studied music at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, at Northwestern in Chicago, and earned her B.S.M. degree in 1935 from Drake University in Des Moines. She started teaching in 1929 in Roland, Iowa, moving after five years to teach in the Des Moines Public Schools until 1938.
She married Henry Clemens Stute in April 1938. The Stutes moved to the Chicago area, then ultimately South Bend in 1956. Henry died there in 1973. The couple started their family in White Plains, NY, where both of their daughters were born: Susan Frances in 1943 and Kathryn Jane in 1947. "Susie," who died in South Bend in May 2011, had profound disabilities due to congenital cerebral palsy. The experience of having a special needs child inspired Zelda to begin a new career, and she became a pioneer in the field of special education. She was a member of the National Association of Retarded Citizens which by the mid-1950s was sponsoring classes for "trainable and educable retarded" children as part of the Federal Program of Action for America's Retarded Children and Adults. She volunteered and was part of the paid teaching staff at what is now Logan Resources and Opportunities for People with Disabilities in the 50s, and when the South Bend Community School Corporation began offering special education c
Zelda gave countless hours to each of the places her daughter Susie lived. She volunteered in nearly every capacity, from baking goodies for special events, to visiting with other residents, to playing piano on a weekly basis for the staff and clients of Anthony Wayne Services who were caring for Susie at the end of her life.
A member of the First Presbyterian Church in South Bend, Zelda was active in the choir, bell choir and women's circle. She was a member and avid golfer at Morris Park Country Club, Elbel, and Erskine golf courses. Zelda also enjoyed membership in the Coquillard Garden Club and PEO Sisterhood. She moved to Sanctuary at St. Paul's in 1994 where she participated in choir, shuffleboard and bridge, and volunteered in the gift shop and library.
Genealogy was a particular interest of Zelda's. Her grandfather, Mark Harrison Morse, who also lived to 103, fought in the Civil War, and she was a descendant of Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the Morse Telegraph and Morse Code.
Zelda Stute is survived by her daughter, Kathryn Russell, and son-in-law, William Russell of Ithaca, NY; stepdaughter, Patricia Ann McCoy of Laguna Hills, CA; two grandchildren, Emily Susan Russell and Michelle Fessler Vroom; and five great-grandchildren, Isabella, Hayden, Aidan, Rowan and William.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Henry Stute on Sept. 10, 1973; daughter, Susan, on May 4, 2011; and by her two brothers, John and Reginald Morse.
There will be no services or visitation. Private interment was held at Riverview Cemetery in South Bend. Palmer Funeral Home-Hickey Chapel, South Bend, assisted with funeral arrangements. In lieu of flowers, contributions
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1908 - 2012 (103 years)
