Born in New York City, NY on May 9th, 1932, she was the daughter of the late Luigi Furnari and Luigina Amore Furnari. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 68 years, Frank Losito, her brothers Phillip Furnari, Frank Furnari, her sister Mary Furnari Grillo and brother-in-law Giovani Grillo, brother in-law Charles Leonard Losito and sister in-law Antoinette Losito.
She was the loving and proud mother to Maria Calabratta (Joe), Frank Losito, Jr. (Dawn), Valerie Gallagher (Brian), extremely proud grandmother to Laura Calabretta Christie (Sturgeon), Paul Calabretta, Jon Calabretta, Trevor Losito, Mimi-Jane Losito, Aidan Gallagher, Katherine Gallagher and Keira Gallagher, and great-grandmother to Lily Jean Christie. Rita was also a proud Aunt to Louisa Joy (Paul), Frank Furnari (Elizabeth), Loretta Grillo, Charles Losito (Katie) and Roseann Raia (Steve). She also leaves behind her dear sister in-law Nunziata Furnari.
Rita’s parents immigrated from Enna, Sicily, Italy to New York City in 1931. She started elementary school only speaking Italian. Her teachers assumed she would follow in her mother’s footsteps to become a seamstress, but Rita had other ideas. She quickly learned English and loved to read. She was often found after school reading until dark. Her love of English inspired her to study stenography and typewriting at Central Commercial High School in NYC. After high school, she started working for ABC Freight Forwarding Company where she worked her way up to become the Vice President’s executive secretary.
Rita met Frank at the Sunnyside Gardens Dance Hall in Queens, NY, where Frank asked Rita if he could “cut in for a dance” and the rest was history. Rita was only 18 and told Frank she did not want to be married until she was 21. Frank said “no problem, I’ll wait for you.” After getting married on September 13th, 1953, they worked to save for their first home in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY. Once it was time to start a family, Rita primarily became a homemaker. She worked hard to make a loving house for her children to grow up in. When her children were older, she worked part-time as a waitress at Court Square Diner where she was loved by her patrons.
Frank and Rita moved to North Carolina in 1996 to be close with their first grandchild. Soon after the rest of the family followed, and all 8 of their grandchildren lived close by. Rita loved watching them grow up and being an active participant in their lives. She always put family first and prioritized spending her time with them. Rita was forever faithful and joined Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church after moving to Queens. She later joined St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church in Cary, NC. She prayed and thanked God every day for her rich and full life.
She was an avid Scrabble player who could not be beat and if you spent any time with her in the last 20 years, you probably got challenged to a game or two. She was also a crossword puzzle enthusiast, never missing the crossword in the daily paper. She was an eternal optimist, always looking at the bright side of things and liked to believe in miracles. She could always be counted on to break out in song, especially “You Are My Sunshine” when it came to singing to her grandchildren. With singing came her love for dancing. Rita and Frank rarely passed up an opportunity to get on the dance floor. The family always looked forward to her famous arancini (rice balls) every Christmas. Thankfully she shared the recipe with them before her passing, but they are sure they’ll never quite taste the same.
Her family is thankful that they were able to enjoy so much time with their Matriarch. She was the life of the party and her friends and family will always remember her warm loving spirit. Her voice often filled the room and now there will certainly be a void.
A memorial service is scheduled for Friday, August 19th at 11:00am at St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church.
The family would like to thank Amedisys Hospice for the wonderful care they gave to Rita these past few months. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that any donations be made to Rita’s favorite charity, St. Jude Children’s Hospital
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.BrownWynneCary.com for the Losito family.
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