Rita Wilwant, of Lancaster, MN, passed away in her home on Friday, April 12, 2024.

Rita (Peterson) Wilwant was born July 6, 1946, to Evelyn & Maitland Peterson of Lancaster. She graduated from Lancaster School in 1964. She married James Wilwant in February, 1965. They lived in Lancaster, Hallock, and near Hallock until they bought the family farm from his mom and 16 acres from Palmer Rundquist in 1971. They then moved to St. Joseph Township, and Rita has resided there since.

Rita and Jim had two children. Mark was born in December of 1967 and Mitch in October of 1972. They farmed until 1985, while Jim worked at Great Lakes Gas. Rita raised big gardens and lots of flowers. She worked at the Lancaster Hardware Store for 22 years, and to the end, she missed all of the people there. Rita also loved quilting, and she created quilts for every single niece and nephew and their children.

She is survived by Mark and Tina, their daughters, Tamra (Derek), Haley (Dacian), and Katie (Kaiser); Mitch and Dave, their kids Mikey (Lynette), Tiffany, and Nicole (Devon); her brother, Jerry (Jody); and many great grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held for Rita on Thursday, April 18, at 11:00 a.m. at the Lancaster Community Center. Visitation will be held at the Community Center for an hour before.

In lieu of donations to the family, please send your donations to the Lancaster School or your local humane society.