Ruth Dobbratz

Ruth A. Dobbratz, 97, passed away peacefully on Friday, April 1, 2022, at Oakwood Village East, Madison, WI.

Ruth Amanda Schwefel was born on July 8, 1924, in Watertown, WI, to Charles and Elsie (Born) Schwefel. She was baptized and confirmed in St. John’s Lutheran Church, Watertown, and attended St. John’s Lutheran Elementary School. After graduating from Watertown High School in 1942, she enrolled in the nursing program at the Cook County School of Nursing, Chicago, and received her R.N. degree in 1945. While a student she was accepted in 1943 into the newly established U.S. Navy Cadet Nurse Corps, from which she was honorably discharged at the rank of Ensign, N.C., in 1958.

After graduation Ruth moved to California, where her first job was at the Palo Alto Hospital, now part of the Stanford University Hospital, and from there she moved to a position at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics at the University of California San Francisco. On June 23, 1951, she married Frederick A. Dobbratz, at First Lutheran Church, Burbank, CA. While working full time at the VA Hospital in Sepulveda, CA, she completed her B.S. in Nursing at what is now California State University, Los Angeles. In 1957 Ruth and her husband moved to Northern California and settled in Palo Alto, CA. She worked first at the Menlo Park VA Hospital and then at the newly opened VA Hospital in Palo Alto, where she held positions as head nurse and supervising nurse. When her husband retired in 1978 from Lockheed, Sunnyvale, CA, they moved to Madison, WI, and Ruth worked at the Madison VA Hospital until her retirement in 1984.  After retirement from the VA, she was employed as a school nurse in the Madison School System until June 1992.

Ruth’s many interests ranged from cooking, sewing, reading, and foreign travels to lifelong learning opportunities and volunteer activities. Participation in Elderhostels took her not only to Antarctica, but also to the northern most village of Norway in the Arctic Circle. In Madison she volunteered at the State Historical Museum, ushered at the Madison Civic Center, and served on the council and various committees of Immanuel Lutheran Church. From 1990 to 1996 she was on the board of directors of Oakwood Lutheran Senior Ministries, served on various boards and committees of Oakwood Village East, and in 2004 received the Oakwood Outstanding Service Award. At Oakwood she worked for many years with the Alzheimer Support Group, helped to orient new employees, and was still a member of the Spiritual Life Committee at the time of her death. She especially enjoyed mentoring a small group of University of Wisconsin Pharmacy students each year. She served as secretary of the Madison Northeast Planning Council, which raised funds to construct the Warner Park Community Center, and over twenty years she put in more than 5000 hours as a volunteer at the Bethesda Thrift Shop, which benefitted Bethesda Lutheran Communities, a non-profit that served people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Ruth is survived by her sisters, Marie Dobbratz and Ora Kuckkan of Watertown, WI, and her brother Ruben (Marji) of Dousman, WI, as well as numerous relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Frederick, sister Myrtle Hrobsky, and brothers, Roy, Wilmar, and John Schwefel.

A celebration of Ruth’s life will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, April 30, 2022, at the Tree of Life Chapel, Oakwood Village East (5565 Tancho Dr., Madison, WI) with a time of gathering from 10:00 am until the time of service. Interment will be held privately at Lutheran Cemetery, Watertown, WI. Memorials in Ruth’s honor can be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church (1021 Spaight Street, Madison, WI 53703) or to the Oakwood Foundation, Inc. (6209 Mineral Point Rd., Madison, WI 53705).