LaVilla "Lou" Lutz

LaVilla “Lou” Lutz, age 94, passed away August 10, 2026, at Sanford Health in Bismarck, with her daughters by her side. Lou was born December 13, 1931 in Yankton, South Dakota on the family farm. She was one of 11 children born to William and Albina Barkl. Like many farm kids of her era, she did not finish high school at that time, but “graduated” herself after eighth grade to work on the farm, and to work various jobs in Yankton to help support her family. Her “claim to fame” came early, when she babysat future TV journalist, Tom Brokaw. She said he was a brat! Of course he wasn’t famous then, his “15 minutes”, so to speak, came later. Still, it was an amusing story we used to hear as kids.

In 1948, at the age of 18 (we know, the math doesn’t work – more on that later!) she married Duane Oswald in Yankton, SD. They then traveled to Orange, California where they lived while Duane was stationed at Camp Pendelton in the US Marines. After his discharge in 1954, they returned to Yankton. They lived in Yankton until 1963, then moved to Bismarck, and on to Pocatello, Idaho in 1964 for a brief four years, then back to Bismarck. During the time in Yankton, Lori and Karen were born. Lynette sneaked in during the four year stay in Pocatello.

Lou was a stay-at-home mom, running the household while Duane made the donuts. Not literally, he sold tires, but you get the drift! When her daughters were in school, Lou got a job as a lunch lady at Dorothy Moses. This was great! Until our friends would get us in trouble by running to our mom to tattle on us! Still, it was comforting to have her there, mother-henning us all over the playground, a string of kids holding hands on either side of her – sometimes up to 5 on a side! While she didn’t work much out of the home as we were growing up, there was a plethora of volunteer work, including bringing elderly folks home from the nursing home for holiday meals. Most memorable was Bessie, who was more into the family cat than the family… she crawled around on the floor, tormenting poor Smokey for hours! When we were a bit older, Lou decided to get her GED, so back to school she went! She took night classes, obtained her GED, and then became an accomplished realtor. Besides being a realtor, Lou dabbled in retail and volunteered at nursing homes, worked the polling places during elections, and even called Bingo at McDonalds, back when they had Bingo during coffee hour in the mornings. It was a thing back in the 80’s!

Lou and Duane divorced in 1982. Later, Lou met and married Emmanuel Lutz. This is where the “math” comes back into the equation. You see, in order to marry Emmanuel, Lou needed a copy of her birth certificate. When she received it, she found out she was a year younger than she thought she was, and had been spelling her name wrong her entire life! She thought she was born in 1930 as Louvella, when in fact, she was born in 1931 and her name was spelled LaVilla! But since she had been Lou all of her life, she was Lou until the day she died. Lou and Emmanuel enjoyed many years of happiness. They traveled all over the country towing a silver stream camper with their big ol’ Lincoln. He taught her to dance, and they spent every weekend at the AmVets, VFW or Eagles, polka-ing and waltzing the night away. She became quite the dancer, and Emmanuel was a great dance partner. Unfortunately, her dance card emptied when Emmanuel passed in 1994.

Lou, still being young and full of life, continued on. She had friends she went dancing with, was an avid gardener, and traveled to visit her sisters in Idaho and grand kids in Montana. Lou was feisty. Once getting kicked off the bus for getting into an argument with a fellow patron. Back in those days, a simple lack of etiquette could result in removal! After that, her daughter, Karen, lent Lou her vehicle so she could drive herself out to Idaho to visit her sisters. When she arrived at Lynette’s in Montana, she had the back seat full of porcelain dolls made by her sister Emily. Dolls made to resemble each of us. The creepiness of that is not lost on us, but she was thrilled with her porcelain family.

Lou was a great cook. One of her favorite things was cooking birthday dinners for her daughters. Our most frequent request was for creamed chicken and dumplings - YUM. She also put together a mean Thanksgiving dinner! She kept this up for several years until her vision began to fail and cooking for a large group became too much.

Lou was independent, stubborn, fun-loving and quite a mama bear! She was always there when we needed her. When dementia stole her brain, she went to live at Maple View, a/k/a the “gramma farm”, according to her great granddaughter, Mayzie. Until she could be convinced that she “worked” there, hence was supposed to be there, she tried to escape several times, even pushing a huge dresser in front of the door to her room so the attendants couldn’t get in! She was determined! Her dresser was then locked in the closet – she wasn’t happy! Eventually she settled in and told us she had “meetings” with the other residents, as this was part of her job. She loved to brag on her kids and grandkids, telling everyone who would listen as she walked up and down the hallways with her walker, “I have a granddaughter who runs like a deer!” She’d laugh when “they look at me funny” but it didn’t stop her! Eventually, the dementia took hold such that she needed more care and was transferred to Good Samaritan Sunset, where she lived until she passed. We told her to “Go to Jesus, he’s waiting for you!” So, she went.

Lou is survived by two daughters, Karen James, Bismarck and Lynette (Dustin) Dahl, Bismarck; Six grandchildren, Les Fowler, Arizona; Sara James (Chris Schreiner), Denver; Devin (Jen) Felix, Helena, MT; Jade Felix, Kalispell, MT; Sierra (Aaron) Vannett, Fargo; Izzy Dahl, Bismarck; Four great grandchildren, Addison, Mayzie and Eva Felix, Helena, MT; and Malia Schreiner, Denver; and brothers, Alvin Barkl and Harold Barkl.

Lou was preceded in death by her parents; her daughter, Lori Hayes; brothers, William, Edwin and Ronnie Barkl and sisters, Lillian Nelson, Aldena Foster, Emily York, Sylvia Robertson and Wilma Cowman.

In lieu of a formal funeral service, per Lou’s wishes, a private family service will be held.

The family would like to sincerely thank the nursing staff at Sanford Health for the excellent, kind and compassionate care they provided to mom in her last days. We appreciate you more than we can say!