Alberta Ketelhut

Alberta Ketelhut, 88, of Benton Harbor, passed away, Monday, January 14, 2013 at Lakeland Specialty Hospital, Berrien Center. A Celebration of Life Service will be held 11:30 A.M. Friday at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1965 Broadway, Benton Harbor, with Rev. Paul S. Naumann officiating. Burial will follow at Crystal Springs Cemetery. Friends may call from 10:30 until 11:30 A.M. Friday at the Church. Memorials may be made to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Those wishing to sign Alberta’s Memory Book online may do so at www.starks-menchinger.com. Alberta was born March 25, 1924 in St. Joseph to Gustav F. & Katherine (Ryll) Hildebrand. She graduated high school and went on to obtain her Nursing Degree from Loyola University in Chicago. Alberta served her country during WWII in the United States Cadet Nurse Corps. On August 20, 1949, she married Stanley Ketelhut in Benton Harbor. Alberta was employed as a registered nurse for forty years, serving at Mercy & Memorial Hospitals in the Twin Cities, and at the veteran’s hospital in Palo Alto, CA. She was a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and Stevensville American Legion Auxiliary Post #568. Alberta is survived by two sons-Michael (Judy) Ketelhut of Spinks Corners, Ron (Cheryl) Ketelhut of Watervliet; her son-in-law Donald Weckwerth of Watervliet; five grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; a brother-in-law Jerry Ketelhut of Phoenix, AZ and a sister-in-law Eleanor Hildebrand of St. Joseph. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Stanley on February 26, 2012, her daughter Susan Weckwerth in 2008, by brothers-Harold, Arthur & Eldon Hildebrand, and by two sisters-Hildegard Stemm & Dorothy Eisbrenner.