Jennie Schatz

Jennie (Zorc) Schatz, age 97, of Eagle Butte, died Thursday, March 26, 2015 at the Avera Maryhouse Transitional Care Unit, Pierre, SD.

Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. MDT, Monday, April 6, 2015, at All Saints Catholic Church, Eagle Butte, SD with Fr. Adam Hofer presiding.  Burial will follow at the United Eagle Butte Cemetery under the direction of Luce Funeral Home, Eagle Butte.  A wake and rosary service will be held at 7:00 p.m. MDT, Sunday, April 5, 2015 at the All Saints Catholic Church with visitation one hour prior to the service. 

Jennie was born September 23, 1917 on a Ziebach County homestead 10 miles south of Eagle Butte.  (Joe and Nina Zorc currently reside at the location of Jennie’s birthplace.)   She was the fifth of eight children born to Rosie O’Korn and Joe Zorc.  Jennie attended the Olson Country School and completed work through the 8^th grade level.  Jennie married Michael Schatz on November 27, 1937 at the All Saints Catholic Church in Eagle Butte.  The newlywed couple settled 3 miles west of Jennie’s birthplace, at the Schatz homestead; there, Jennie resided for the next 77 years. 

Jennie lived a full life as a homemaker, rancher's wife, and mother.   She was meticulous about keeping the house clean.  She was an excellent cook (although she frequently claimed otherwise); in particular, every week she treated the family to the wonderful tastes and smells of her homemade fresh-baked bread.  In the summers, Jennie kept a large garden where she raised a wide array of vegetables, including fresh tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, green peas, kohlrabi, squash and sweet corn;  she canned fruit and pickled beets and cucumbers for use in the winter months.   For many years, Jennie raised a brood of chickens and sold eggs to neighbors and local grocery stores.  She took an active part in the family’s cattle operation:  she spent countless hours in the barn, on horseback, or in the corral helping out with calving, turning out to pasture, doctoring, branding, vaccinating, and weaning.  All the while Jennie was steadfast in attending to the needs of her four children, ranging from nursing them when they were sick, to transporting them to numerous school activities.

Jennie loved music.  She was a country music fan and enjoyed singing and playing the guitar, which she taught herself to play.  (Her children recall fondly the times when she serenaded them with a G-rated version of “Barnacle Bill the Sailor”.)   Jennie enjoyed playing cards; she taught her children how to play whist and pitch.   For a number of years, Jennie was an avid roller skater; she was also fond of dancing.  In her later years, she became a baseball fan; she rooted for the Atlanta Braves, watching numerous Braves games on satellite TV.

Jennie was active in the Parish of All Saints Catholic Church in Eagle Butte.  She was a longtime member the parish’s Altar Society; she could always be counted on to help clean the church interior, to launder church linens, and to provide pies, cookies and cakes for church bake sales.  She was a faithful contributor to and worker at the annual church bazaar.    Together with her husband, Jennie frequently served as an usher during Sunday Mass.    Jennie possessed a deep faith in the Lord that she cultivated over the years with a daily devotional practice of saying the Rosary.    

She is survived by three children: David Joseph Schatz of Hayes, SD, Tillie Rose Schatz Stacy of Colorado Springs, CO and Michael Francis Schatz, Jr. of Atlanta, GA; one sister, Mary Zorc Maher of Sturgis, SD; one brother, Joe Zorc of Eagle Butte, SD; seven grandchildren; and eleven great-grandchildren. 

Jennie was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; one daughter, Gemma Marie Schatz Poncelet; one brother, William Zorc; and four sisters: Josie Zorc Elsey, Rosie Zorc Maher, Cecil Zorc Bolton, and Sophie Zorc Holden.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Jennie’s memory to the American Cancer Society:   https//donate.cancer.org

Luce Funeral Chapel of Eagle Butte has been entrusted with Jennie’s arrangements.