Rita Frizzell, 89, Owatonna
Rita Frizzell passed away on March 17, 2025, at her daughter’s home in Owatonna.
Friends may greet the family from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, March 29, 2025, at Brick-Meger Funeral Home, 1603 Austin Road, Owatonna. Memorial service will follow at 11 a.m.
Rita Ann Frizzell was born Aug. 5, 1935, in Bancroft, Iowa, to Michael and Genevieve Heiderscheid. Growing up, Rita was a Minnesota resident living in Windom, North Mankato, and Lake Crystal where she graduated from high school in 1953. She continued studies at the Mankato Commercial College and took a job in Owatonna at Lindekugel Chevrolet/Cadillac as a stenographer/bookkeeper. There she met her husband to be, Glen Frizzell.
Rita was active in high school band as a drummer, glee club, and was part of the quartet, “The Melodettes”, from 1954-1956. The group sang all over and even performed on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour in New York City. She was also involved in the figure skating club, and in her later years, the Red Hat Society and several bridge clubs. She was highly involved with the Garden Club in Hot Springs Village, AR, where she and Glen lived from 1993 to 2007. She loved to host parties, and when she came back to Minnesota, she would have four, 3-course tea parties a year at her home.
Rita started a pickleball club in 2006 and continued to run it for eight years until it grew so large that a board of directors and officers were established in 2014. In 2013, she worked with a committee to get four pickleball courts built in Morehouse Park. She even found a church, inside which she helped design four indoor courts, so the pickleball club could play in the winter. She played pickleball up to the fall of 2024. She also loved to play golf, playing from 1969 until the fall of 2024. She loved to travel, with her favorite places being Mexico, Canada, and Europe.
Rita is survived by her daughter Diane (Bob) Racek; her son James Lee Frizzell; and grandchildren Shannon Lee Frizzell and Nathaniel Lee (Lydia) Frizzell.
She was preceded in death by her husband Glen W. Frizzell; her parents; sister Bernice Wilberscheid; and brother Harold Heiderscheid.
The family would like to thank the Mayo Clinic Hospice Team for their care and support over the past nine weeks. Rita was able to enjoy her time with family and friends, for which we will always be grateful.
Memorials are preferred to Mayo Clinic Hospice, 200 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905. For more information or to leave an online message of condolence, go to www.megercares.com.