Wayne Edgar Rutz

Reverend Wayne E Rutz, 76, died from complications related to vascular dementia on August 17, 2017. Born on June 20, 1941 in Albert Lea MN, Wayne was the eldest of two sons. Wayne grew up in Denver, CO, Chicago, and Cedar Rapids, IA. He attended Concordia Senior College and graduated with a Masters of Divinity degree from Concordia Seminary-St Louis in 1967. He has served parishes in New Orleans and in the Fort Wayne area for about 40 years. He retired twice from the ministry, his last parish served was Shepherd of the City Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne. Wayne loved and was faithful to two women: his late wife, Evelyn Schoessow, a music teacher who preceded him in death in 1994, and Carolina Rodriguez, who he married in 2003. On the political spectrum, he was a conservative. On the theological side, he was a High Church Lutheran who believed that pastors must promote the Sacraments as agents of forgiveness, especially to the suffering, the shut-ins, and the dying. It was a lesson he taught to his seminarians-in-training while they were doing fieldwork at his parishes. He was preceded in death by his parents Edgar and Selma and his first wife, Evelyn Schoessow. Survivors include his brother, Lowell (Connie) Rutz of Cedar Rapids IA, his nieces and nephews, his parents-in-law, Enrique and Stella Rodriguez, the Schoessow family of Mequon, WI, and his wife, Carolina Rodriguez of Louisville KY. A Graveside service will be held on Thursday, August 31, 2017 at Trinity Ev. Lutheran Cemetery in Mequon at 10:15am. The cemetery is located on the corners of Granville and Freistadt Rds.