Rita Grider

Rita Ann Grider, A "Gold Star Mother," beloved mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, sister and aunt left her earthly existence for her heavenly home on Sunday, December 27, 2020, at 6:25 p.m.  Rita was born on June 28, 1949, in Belleville, Illinois, to Raymond T. Guebert of Red Bud, Illinois, and Annelotte Schmunck of Frankfurt, Germany.  She was baptized into the Lord's name at Signal Hill Lutheran Church in Belleville, Illinois, on July 10, 1949, and was later confirmed into the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.  Rita attended school in the Roxana School District before moving to Germany with her family for two years in the summer of 1963, where she traveled to Holland, France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.  The family returned to East Alton, Illinois, where Rita attended Roxana High School graduating in 1967.  Rita gave birth to her first child, Sherry Lynn Grider, in 1971 and then to her second child, Ronald 'Aaron' Grider in 1980.  Rita is survived by her daughter, Sherry, and grandchildren, Stephanie of Bunker Hill, Illinois, and Catie Anne of Wendell, North Carolina; her brother Terry Guebert (Kathleen), sister Janet Hepting (Tim), and sister Vera Guebert-Steward (Mark) and her widowed daughter-in-law, Brittany McDowell.  Rita was preceded in death by her son, SFC Aaron Grider, who was killed on his 30^th birthday in Afghanistan on September 18, 2010.  Rita has been cremated and words of comfort and prayer were offered by Pastor David Schultz of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Wood River, Illinois.  Interment will occur next to her son in Evergreen, Colorado on her birthday 2021.