Rita Marie (Kaiser) Ziehlsdorff, age 61 of Jordan, passed away with her daughters by her side on April 19, 2019. A gathering will be held on Thursday, April 25, 2019 from 4-6PM with a Celebration of Life Service to follow at 6PM, all at Ballard Sunder Funeral Home, 4565 Pleasant Street SE, Prior Lake. Pastor Mike Golay will preside. Urn bearers will be her grandchildren. There will be continued fellowship at the Prior Lake VFW following the service.
On August 22, 1957, Clarence and Audrey (Luce) Kaiser celebrated the birth of their first child, Rita Marie Kaiser. She was the oldest of eight children and loved taking care of and protecting all her younger siblings. Growing up on Fish Lake, she enjoyed swimming and playing Barbies by the lake. Rita also had mink-tending duties along with the rest of the family.
Growing up, she was proud of getting good grades, and she graduated early from Jordan High School in 1975. She was determined to move out and see the world. She enrolled at the Minnesota School of Business and studied court reporting. From there she had a variety of jobs, spanning a wide area of interests, including clerical and administrative assistant, apartment building manager, hostess and bartender, and most recently, tax preparer.
In 1977, she married John Flood, and from that union came the birth of her two beautiful girls, Holly and Heather. She and John parted ways but remained good friends. She married John Ziehlsdorff in 1985. As a family, they loved to travel and go on camping trips. During Holly’s and Heather’s high school days, their house became the hang out place for all their friends, and because she was a cool mom, friends started calling her “Mama Rita.” She and John enjoyed motorcycling, and always looked forward to their trips together to Brainerd International Raceway for the big race weekend. After 14 years they parted ways but remained good friends. In 2003, she reconnected with an old friend, Brian Johnson. They loved their time together, and he was a good soulmate, especially as he tended to Rita’s daily needs.
In 1989, Rita was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and the doctors told her she would be wheelchair bound within a few years. True to form, she stubbornly balked at that, and continued walking, though with assistance the last few years, until the day she went into the hospital. Her PCAs also made her life easier. As the years progressed with the MS, so did other health issues, which eventually led to her passing. Through it all she remained strong with the help of family, friends, and her many online friends. In addition, she was very proud to have celebrated 9 years of sobriety this March.
She enjoyed crocheting and cross stitching, and loved to gift her completed works to family and friends to enjoy. And they did! She was a wonderful listener, and was looked to as one to give advice when needed. More recently, she loved connecting with people through Facebook and online games. Her life became full as she welcomed her 10 grandchildren into her life.
Her feisty attitude, contagious laugh, and beautiful smile will be missed by her daughters, Holly (Dan Ziebarth) Flood, Heather (Nate Marr) Flood; significant other, Brian Johnson and his daughter Christina Johnson; grandbabies, Alexis, Autumn, C.J., Will, Brylee, Cuyler, Cadence, Aubrey, Mercaideze, Irelyn; parents, Clancy and Audrey Kaiser; siblings, Renee (Larry Muelken) Kaiser-Muelken, Randy (Faith) Kaiser, Linda (John) Traxler, Lisa (Mike) Fix, Rory (Jane) Kaiser, Rhonda (Val) Zweber, Robin (Phil) Nawrocki; other loving relatives and friends.
Ballard-Sunder Funeral and Cremation proudly serves Rita’s family.
