Rita M. Marnauzs

Rita Maija Strautmanis Marnauzs left us all on April 11, 2010.Rita was born on June 9, 1964, child of Imants and Irena Strautmanis, who had emigrated from Latvia in 1950 with their respective families after World War II. Rita grew up in Fond du Lac, and graduated from L.P. Goodrich High School in 1982. Despite being born in Fond du Lac, Rita was always passionate about Latvian culture. Her ever-widening circle of friends began on Hillcrest Lane, where she grew up playing hide-and seek, inviting friends over to swim, and organizing elaborate birthday parties. Later, she was a student at Garezers Latvian Center, a youthsummer camp in Three Rivers, Michigan that emphasizes Latvian language and culture. There she made friends from around the world, and blossomed into a dynamic, conscientious young woman.Rita studied Art History at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and also completed a minor in Latvian at the Latvian Study Center, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She traveled to Latvia during her studies, and after earning a Bachelor’s Degree in 1988, settled in Boston. She lived and worked there, immersing herself in Boston’s culture and a social life enriched by friends she knew from Garezers and elsewhere. In 1992 Rita embarked on an adventure, taking an internship with the National Art Museum in Riga, Latvia. She told friends and family about the chaotic energy of a country that had so recently gained its independence, and the sheer thrill of living in a place so exotic.It was in Riga that Rita met her future husband, Ainars Marnauzs, a native of Latvia. She returned to Wisconsin after a year, and soon, he traveled to the U.S. to join her. They celebrated their wedding in 1993 in the backyard where she grew up, with hundreds of friends and family in attendance, sometimes crowding under awningsand the porch as a light summer rain fell.They had their first child, Helena, in 1994 while both of them worked and Ainars was studying computer technology. Their second child, Sven, was born in 1997. Rita and Ainars first settled in the Milwaukee area, and they both worked to help support their new family. In 1999, the family traveled to Latvia along with Rita’s siblings and father. The whole family met Ainars’ parents, and celebrated Midsummer’s Night in the Latvian countryside. They moved to Madison that year, and Rita spent several years primarily raising Helena and Sven. She also held positions with the Public Library and Badger Graphic Systems in Sun Prairie. She showed her intense love for her children through her involvement in their school lives, the crafts they made together, and her support of their extracurricular activities. The entire family spent many weekends on the road to Sven’s hockey tournaments, and Rita drove Helena to dance classes several nights a week. Rita radiated a wonderful light among all those who knew her. Her family’s albums are full of pictures of her smiling with her brothers, sister, parents and friends. Her unexpected passing has left a wide, deep well of sadness, felt by all those who survive her, including her husband Ainars; children, Helena and Sven; father, Imants; her sister Rasma, and brothers Maris and Sigurds; their spouses Robert,Thomasin and Alisa; her parents-in-law Antons and Janina, her nieces, Uve and Anna, and nephews Henry, Max, and Lauris. Rita’s funeral service will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 24, 2010, at Church of Our Saviour, 363 South Main Street, Fond du Lac, with Rev. Lauma Zusevics officiating. Burial will follow in the Latvian section of Rienzi Cemetery.The visitation will be from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. on Friday, April 23, 2010, at Mach Funeral Chapel & Crematory, 31 East Division Street, Fond du Lac, and on Saturday at church from 11:00 a.m. until the time of service.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Helena and Sven’s Education Fund. Contact Maris Strautmanis for more information, at mstraut@spiritone.com.

Rita M. Marnauzs

June 9, 1964 - April 24, 2010