Visitation will be on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, from 4-7 p.m. at the Sturm Funeral Home, Sleepy Eye Chapel, and will continue on Thursday from 10-11 a.m. at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church-Sleepy Eye.

Service will be held at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church-Sleepy Eye on Thursday, May 5, 2022, at 11 a.m.

The clergy will be Father Mark Steffl. Interment will be at the St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Sleepy Eye.

Arrangements are with the Sturm Funeral Home in Sleepy Eye. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sturmfh.com.

Rita Mary (Rust) Schleisman, 96, died at her home in Sleepy Eye on April 29,2022. She was born to Paul and Bernadine (Olberding) Rust on June 17, 1925, in Little Sioux, Harrison County Iowa. They moved to Carroll, Iowa, when she was a baby. She attended St. Peter and Paul school and St. Angela Academy. She worked as a bookkeeper for Farner & Bocken, and then as a stenographer for Seifert Law Firm. She married Leon T. Schleisman on August 12, 1944, at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Carroll, Iowa. Together they had five children. The family moved to Sleepy Eye when they purchased the “Star Cleaners” dry cleaning business in Sleepy Eye in 1960. Sleepy Eye was chosen over other choices because of St. Mary’s Catholic Schools. They felt very strongly about sending their children to a Catholic school. Together they operated the Star Cleaners until Leon’s death in 1991. At that time she retired and continued to live in her own home. Rita was a member of St. Mary’s Christian Mothers, and CCW as well as various other committees. Some of her hobbies and interests included reading, Sudoku, crossword puzzles, sewing, cards and board games.

Rita was preceded in death by her husband and all six of her siblings. She is survived by her children, Judy L Mathiowetz, of Sleepy Eye, Connie J. (Greg) Funk of Sioux City, Iowa, Douglas (Renae) Schleisman of Delano, Nancy (Richard) Beltz of Alexandria and Leann Scalia of Brooklyn Park; 18 grandchildren; two step grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren and 4 great-step grandchildren.

We will all miss her but feel blessed, knowing that she is with our Heavenly Father. Her strong Faith has influenced many.

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