{"id":44809,"date":"2026-08-22T11:21:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=44809"},"modified":"2026-08-22T11:25:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T16:25:45","slug":"karen-marie-rueter-61-of-effingham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/44809-karen-marie-rueter-61-of-effingham\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen Marie Rueter (61) of Effingham"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Karen Marie Rueter age 61, of Effingham passed away Saturday, August 15, 2026, at HSHS St. Anthony Memorial Hospital, Effingham, Illinois.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cremation rites be accorded to Ms. Rueter.\u00a0 No formal services are planned at this time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Karen was born on September 29, 1964, in Effingham, Illinois the daughter of Robert and Elsie (Ashley) Rueter, Sr. Karen worked for many years as a certified nurses\u2019 aide and later in the Martin\u2019s IGA bakery.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In her free time, Karen enjoyed listening to the music of the Bee Gee\u2019s, watching movies and playing games.\u00a0 She loved to play marbles and games on her phone.\u00a0 She loved cooking and was known for her deviled eggs and cookies, especially her sugar and no-bakes.\u00a0 She loved Hunter\u2019s service dog, Iggy, and loved having him in their home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To her children, she was the best mom.\u00a0 Although a bit stubborn at times, she loved them with the kindest heart and taught them all perseverance.\u00a0 She loved having visitors, especially when the grandkids came to visit.\u00a0 Family time was special to Karen.\u00a0 When the family couldn\u2019t be together, she kept track of them all with her late-night phone calls, which will be forever missed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Karen will be loved and remembered by her children, Jessica Marie (Steven) Cook of Effingham, Shannon Hebert of Noble, Megan Hebert of Vandalia and Hunter Crabtree of Effingham; six grandchildren, Joshua McWhorter, Bradley Austin, Jr., Hayley Austin, Anna Cobix, Maya Cobix, and Isaiah Hebert; great grandchild, Mateo Cobix; siblings, Rick (Marilyn) Rueter of Branson, MO, Brenda Rueter of Indiana and twin brother Kevin (Belinda) Rueter of Louisville and several nieces and nephews.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Her parents, granddaughter Ashely McWhorter and brother Bobby Rueter, Jr. preceded her in death.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Online condolences may be offered at www.crainfuneral.com.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Karen died on Saturday, August 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":44810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - 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