Inez Mabel Fattig was born April 19, 1934, near Sidney, NE, the 9th of 13 children born to Louis and Ruth “Ernestine” (Hanna) Lutes. On June 28, 2025, Inez passed away at Linden Court in North Platte.
When she was a year old, the family moved to the Lutes Ranch located north and west of Stapleton, NE. Inez attended Lone Valley, a one room school through the eighth grade and graduated from Stapleton High School in 1951. The Lutes family attended Sunday school and church at the Trumbull store, and later at the Hall Church in McPherson County. Inez accepted Jesus as her Savior in her early teens while attending a Bible camp at Camp Bethel, located in Sutherland. It was here that she dedicated her life to the Lord. Leaning into her Faith, Inez taught Sunday school and vacation Bible school for many years.
On May 20, 1951, Inez married James “Jim” Fattig at the home of her parents. The couple lived on the Fattig Farm until 1958, allowing Jim to farm with his dad. While living here, three children were born to Jim and Inez- Martin Louis in 1952, Janice Ionne in 1953, and Lynell Kay in 1955. The family moved to Elsie in 1958, where their fourth child, Glenda Jo, was born in 1962. While living in Elsie, Inez cleaned houses along with other domestic jobs. In 1965, the family moved to Wallace and later purchased a service station there in 1968. Inez did the bookkeeping, along with pumping gas, washing windshields, and checking oil and tires. In 1987, they left Wallace and moved to Laramie where they managed a Motel 6 for six years. After moving back to Wallace in 1993, Inez worked at the hardware store for a couple years while doing childcare. She then worked for the Hi Line Coop in Elsie for eight years. When Jim’s health began to fail in 2017, Jim and Inez moved to South Oak Manor in North Platte. Being the first female president of the Wallace Community Club and being trained as an EMT to serve on the Wallace Volunteer Fire Department were two huge accomplishments. She was active in the United Methodist Women, serving as several officers. With her husband, she was part of a group of friends, known as the “7 Couples”- a group that enjoyed getting together through the years, as their children were growing up and later, as retired individuals.
Inez is preceded in death by her husband, Jim; her parents, Louis and Ernestine Lutes; parents-in-law, Glenn and Helen Fattig; brothers, Vernon (Pauline) Lutes, Ernie (June) Lutes, Nathan (Joyce) Lutes, Stephen Lutes, Martin Lutes, and Keith Lutes; sisters, Flora (Floyd) Connell, Susan (Alfred) Shimmin; brothers-in-law, Wayne Tiffany and Tom Harmon; many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
She is survived by her children, Marty (Leslie) Fattig, Jan (Jim) Singleton, Lynell (Mark) Franklin, Glenda (Martin) Vega; grandchildren, Tony (Michelle) Singleton, Jason (Shawna) Franklin, Jeremy (Lindsey Stevens) Franklin, Tara (Kris) Drain, Michelle (Ryan) Phifer, Tiffany (Travis) Phillips, Ryan Fattig, Lynsie (Rick) Neeley ; step grandchildren, Ben Vega, Bob (Allison) Vega, Amanda (James) Wassinger, John Parrish, Andy (Charlotte) Parrish; sisters, Phoebe (Frank) Martin, Olive (Stan) Gurney, Esther Harmon; brother, Loren (Janis Stout) Lutes; sisters-in-law, Alice Lutes and Doris Tiffany; 36 great grandchildren; 2 great-great grandchildren; many friends and other family.
A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at 10:30 AM at the Wallace Methodist Church with Rev. Shanon Williams officiating with burial following at Morningview Cemetery, Wallace, NE. Visitation is Monday, July 7, 2025, from 12 PM to 7 PM with family present to greet friends from 5 PM to 7 PM at Adams & Swanson Funeral Home.
Adams & Swanson Funeral Home is coordinating arrangements.