Clara Schweitzer, 85, of Harvey died Thursday March 10, 2011 at the St. Aloisius Hospital, Harvey.

Funeral Mass will be held at the St. Cecilia Catholic Church, Harvey on Tuesday March 15, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. Visitation will be at Hertz Funeral Home, Harvey on Monday from 2:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. with prayer services at 7 p.m. Monday at the Hertz Funeral Home.

Burial will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday at St. Mary's Cemetery, Bismarck.


Clara was born July 4, 1925, on a farm near Kintyre, ND, the third daughter of Pius and Juliana (Schmidt) Reis. She grew up and attended rural grade school near Kintyre. Because she was small, frail and farm work was too hard for her, a Finnish couple living near the Reis family encouraged Pius to let Clara move to Napoleon for her freshman year of high school. Clara moved to Bismarck to live with her sister Helen and attend her last three years of high school at St. Mary's Catholic High School. Following her graduation on May 29, 1944, she worked as receptionist for Dr. Lipp in Bismarck for seventeen years. Clara's dream was to become a nurse and she took correspondence classes through the Chicago School of nursing. She passed her courses and always regretted not taking the state board to follow her dream.

Clara met her future husband, John Schweitzer, at a big band orchestra dance at the Memorial Building in Bismarck. They were united in marriage on May 24, 1950, and lived in Bismarck where John worked for the Soo Line Railroad and their four children were born. The family moved to Herreid, SD, then to Harvey, back to Bismarck, and finally, back to Harvey in 1971 where they've made their home for the past 40 years. Clara worked as a cashier at Kary's Red Owl in Harvey where she was known as the "Red Owl Lady."

She was a member of the St. Cecilia Catholic Church, Alter Society, Bell Choir and served as a Eucharistic Minister for twenty years. She was a member of TOPS, attending many state conventions. Clara enjoyed bowling on her Tuesday Morning Coffee League team. They took first place in 1989-1990 and 1996-1997 and she proudly displayed her trophies. John and Clara enjoyed traveling, touring 44 of the lower states and Alaska. They traveled to Europe with two of Clara's sisters and their husbands, visiting nine countries. Clara also enjoyed the trips they made to Las Vegas and casinos in North Dakota. Her favorite past-times at home were reading the newspaper, watching Jeopardy, the Wheel of Fortune, and canning. For seventeen years, Clara was kept company by her favorite pet, a white toy poodle she'd named [with great foresight] Troubles.

Clara is survived by her husband, John, of Harvey; three daughters and sons-in-law Julie (Michael) Arnegard, Barb (Doug) Zottnick, all of Bismarck, and Janet (Keith) Pritchard of Lake Metigoshe; son and daughter-in-law, John-Allen (Sheri) Schweitzer of Jamestown; grandchildren, Ryan Zottnick of Bismarck, Joshua (fiancé, Reagen West) Zottnick of Atlanta, GA, Michael (Kari) Zottnick, Megan (Jesse) Rundquist, Eric Arnegard, and Emily (Nathan) Schneider, all of Bismarck, Katelyn (Paul) Pertile of Butte, MT, Johna (fiancé, Nathan Miller) Pritchard of Minneapolis, Reis Pritchard of Lake Metigoshe; four great-grandchildren and one great-granddaughter on the way.

Surviving brothers and sisters include, Helen (Pete) Wickenheiser, Fargo, Pete (Rose) Reis, Kintrye, Theresia (Jack) Dutt, Bismarck, Magdalena (Al) Leier, Linton, Barbara (Victor) Wald, Napoleon, Caroline (Karl) Schatz, Kettle River, MN, Alvera (Tony) Leier, Kintyre, Angeline (Ed) Geiger, Bismarck. Clara was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Pius Jr. and Sebastian; sister, Eva Huber.