Angela Rae Richter

On Monday, January 22, 2024, Angela Rae (“Angie”) Richter passed away peacefully at her home in Highland Park, Illinois, at the age of 93. Angie was born at home, in Wentworth, South Dakota, on November 8, 1930, the only child of Walter and Emma Abraham (nee Andrews).

She attended the Wentworth public schools. She was the homecoming queen and valedictorian of her high school class of 11 students. She then attended the General Beadle State Teachers College, now Dakota State University, in Madison, South Dakota. She earned a Teaching Certificate and joined the swelling ranks of elementary school teachers to meet the demands of the post-war baby boom. She taught school in White, South Dakota, and Ivanhoe, Worthington and Marshall, Minnesota. Years later she went back to school, and in 1972 earned her Bachelor’s Degree at Southwest State University in Marshall.

Angie met her eventual husband, Donald E. (“Dutch”) Richter, at a dance when she was 15 years old. He was 20, and recently home from service in the Navy. They married five years later. They were married for more than 68 years, until Dutch passed away in May of 2020. It was a marriage full of passion, as each met their match in the other.

Angie and Dutch raised their family mostly in Marshall, Minnesota. She enjoyed playing golf and bridge. She was active in her church circle and other good works in the community. In 1974, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went on to be a 49+ year survivor. Following her treatment she founded a local chapter of Reach to Recovery, the American Cancer Society’s support program for breast cancer survivors.

In 1976 Angie and Dutch moved to Hastings, Minnesota, and in 1986 they retired to Ft. Myers, Florida. For nearly 35 years they enjoyed the Great American Retirement, playing golf and bridge at their country club, entertaining their many friends and traveling to see family and explore the U.S. and beyond.

When Dutch passed, Angie remained in Florida for three years. After surviving Hurricane Ian in Ft. Myers, she finally conceded to move closer to her daughter in Illinois.

She passed away in comfort and wonderful care, with her children close by, at the Sunrise Assisted Living facility in Highland Park. A joint memorial service, with burial of their ashes, will be held for Angie and Dutch later in the year.

Angie is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Renee and Dan Hacker, of Glenview, Illinois, her son and daughter-in-law, Scott Richter and Bridget McKeon, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, her grandson Jason Hacker and his wife Amber Hacker, her grandsons Thomas Richter and Mark Richter, and her great-grandchildren Erik Hacker and Jean Hacker.

Angie was a person of faith and a devout Lutheran all her life. She would take solace in her favorite verse, from John, 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but shall have everlasting life.”

Memorials may be sent to the American Cancer Society or your local Lutheran congregation.