Dorothy Jean Rathje

Dorothy Jean (Drummond) Rathje, 88, of Caseville, passed away Tuesday, October 1, 2024 at Courtney Manor in Bad Axe.

Dorothy was born September 6, 1936 in Bad Axe to the late Roy and Ruth (Faupel) Drummond.  She married Kenneth W. Rathje on October 26, 1957.

Dorothy attended Maxwell School, Pigeon Elementary and graduated from Pigeon High School in 1954.  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Alma College in 1958 and two Master’s Degrees from Saginaw Valley State University.  She was an Elementary teacher in Saginaw area schools for 30 years, retiring from Bethlehem Lutheran School in 1996, after 25 years.  She moved to Caseville in 1998.

Dorothy was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church for 34 years and was currently a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Linkville where she was a greeter and on the New Building Committee.  She was also a member and former secretary of the Ladies Aid Society and a VBS teacher.  She was a member of the Saginaw, Huron and Michigan Democratic Party and was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1976 in New York City which nominated Jimmy Carter for President of the United States.  She was a Red Cross Disaster Volunteer for local and national disasters and a volunteer at Owen-Gage High School, where her daughter Connie was a teacher.

Dorothy is survived by her husband of 66 years Kenneth; daughters Connie (William Roemer) Sutter-Roemer of Deford and Christine (Gerald) Morris of Beaverton; sons Kenneth Rathje Jr of Alexandria, Virginia and John (Kristin) Rathje of Ypsilanti; grandchildren Dr. David (Dr. Jyoti) Sutter Jr of Ann Arbor, Zachary (Samantha) Sutter of Unionville, Donald (Amanda) Kingry of Beaverton, Daniel (Danielle) Kingry of Beaverton, Alex Van Buren of Beaverton, Dr. Jason (Kathryn) Rathje of Fort Hunt, VA, Dr. Elizabeth Rathje (Joseph Borges) of West Medford, MA, Christopher Rathje (Maddie Beck) of Philadelphia, PA, John (Dr. Erin) Rathje of Cincinnati, OH, Anna (Melvin Guilamo) Rathje-Guilamo of Boston, MA, Stephen Rathje (Sami Palermo) of Houston, TX, Sarah Rathje (Dakota Huey) of Cincinnati, OH; step-grandchildren Christina (Chris) Bedore of Unionville, Tressa Roemer of Unionville, Darlene Taylor of Ohio and Michael Ladyzhensky of Rye, NY; 15 great-grandchildren, 11 step great-grandchildren and 2 step great-great-grandchild; sister Elaine Gayari of Owendale; brother Lee Drummond of Sterling Heights; several sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews and other loving relatives and friends.  She was preceded in death by her sister Doris Haney; brother-in-law Ron Gayari; sister-in-law Dorothy Drummond and 2 step-grandsons William Roemer Jr and Patrick Morris.

Funeral services will be 11:00am Saturday, October 5th at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Linkville with Rev. Chris Suggitt officiating.  Burial will be in the Caseville Township Cemetery.

Visitation will be 4-8 Friday at the Champagne Funeral Chapel.

Memorials may be made to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church-Linkville.