Sheila Rath
Sheila Rath, 75, of Aberdeen, SD, passed away Saturday, January 31, 2026, at Banner Gateway Medical Center, Gilbert, AZ.
Sheila Schrenk was born August 27, 1950, to Milton and Alice (Fischer) Schrenk at St. Luke’s Hospital in Aberdeen SD. In 1955, her family moved to Ellendale ND, where her parents owned the Red Owl Grocery Store. She attended elementary school in Ellendale. In 1964, the family moved back to Aberdeen, and she attended Simmons Junior High, graduating with the Aberdeen Central High School class of 1968.
On September 2, 1969, she married her high school sweetheart, Keith Rath, and together they shared over 57 years of marriage. They were blessed with a daughter, Jan, and a son, Stephen.
Sheila graduated from Northern State College in 1975 and received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Her first teaching position was teaching first grade at Simmons Elementary in the fall of 1977. Throughout her 30 year teaching career at Simmons, she also taught second and third grade during different school years. After retiring from full-time teaching, she was rehired as a reading tutor and spent many years in this position at Lincoln Elementary. When she retired from her reading tutor position, teaching and education were still such a big part of her life. Her grandson, Jamie, was inspired into elementary education, and she spent lots of time putting together bulletin boards and classroom displays for his classroom in Pierre, SD. She also enjoyed searching the internet for enrichment activities and putting together units corresponding to a certain story for her young great- grandsons. It was important to her to help them get an early start in a love for learning.
Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were always a source of great joy. She adored spending time with each of them.
Music was always a part of Sheila’s life. From the time she and Keith were married they were involved in gospel quartet music. During the 1980s, she was the pianist for the Cornerstone Quartet. The quartet was able to record three albums. In the 1990s, the quartet transitioned to a mixed quartet family group known as The Priority Singers. Keith, Sheila, Jan and her husband Ken, performed Southern Gospel concerts at churches throughout North and South Dakota
Sheila was a long time member of Calvary Baptist Church, serving on various boards and committees, as church library coordinator, and sang in the praise team. She accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior at a young age and was a Born-Again Christian. Her faith was always central to her daily life.
She enjoyed time working in her flower garden and loved adding new flowers to it each spring. Sheila was an avid reader and enjoyed books by Colleen Coble and Kristen Hanna.
She is survived by her loving husband, Keith; daughter Jan (Ken) Bjur, Aberdeen; son Stephen (Nicole) Rath, Britton, SD; grandchildren: Jamison ‘Jamie’ Bjur, Pierre, SD, Ashton (Drew) Dennert, Columbia, SD, Christian Rath, Preston Rath and Justin Rath, Britton, SD; great-grandchildren: Tracy, Truett, and Tripp Dennert, Columbia, SD; brother Sherwood ‘Woody’ (Amanda Lautenschlager) Schrenk, Aberdeen; brother-in-law Jim Rath, Aberdeen; and brother-in-law Warren Rath, Aberdeen, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
She was proceeded in death by her parents, and her in-laws, Leonard and Evelyn Rath.