Reta E. Windisch

Reta Ellen Dewitz Windisch was born August 23, 1932 in Oak Harbor, Ohio and passed away December 10, 2017 in Tempe, Arizona. She was the second child of Roland and Betty (Pfeifer) Dewitz. She grew up in Oak Harbor and Florida where the family spent winters. Reta graduated in 1950 from Oak Harbor High School. She married Ronald Windisch on September 10, 1950. They had two sons, Don and Bob. She worked at various jobs while the boys were young and then went to college once they were in grade school. She graduated with a bachelor degree in home economics and a masters degree in special education. She spent most of her adult life teaching children in first grade through junior high. She loved seeing a childs eyes light up with an understanding of learning - particularly if it was reading. She was very proud of all the children that she helped to educate. She and Ron were great work partners and bought many homes - remodeling them and then renting and selling them. Reta struggled with chronic asthma her entire life. In 1970, they moved their family to Casa Grande, Arizona in the hopes of improving her health. The family constructed an apartment complex in Casa Grande which Ron and Reta managed through their retirement. They also built a vacation home in Flagstaff, Arizona and one for Betty Dewitz in Oak Harbor, Ohio. After traveling extensively in their motor home once they retired, they settled in Leisure World in Mesa, Arizona in the mid-1990s and then settled in Friendship Village in Tempe, Arizona in 2012. They were active in the Superstition Springs Kiwanis Organization for many years. Reta was always there to help her family. Reta was predeceased by Ron in January 2015 and her parents. She is survived by son Don (Lariat), son Bob (Judy), four grandchildren (Shawn, Esther, Kyle and Matthew and their spouses), four great grandchildren (Ryne, Edward, Elliana and Kinsey), sisters Ila Tabbert, Janice Gyde and Doris Gnepper and brothers Charles Dewitz and Edward Dewitz and their spouses. There will be graveside services on December 29, 2017 at 11:30 a.m. at Union Cemetery in Oak Harbor, Ohio followed by a luncheon for the family at Carroll Township Hall at noon. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Friendship Village Foundation at 2625 E. Southern Avenue, Tempe, Arizona 85282.