Rita Zachariaz Hara

Rita Simplicia Zacariaz (Hara) was born on August 3, 1936 in Manhattan, NY, and raised in Lindenhurst, NY by her mother Cecilia Laughing Eyes, grandmother Princess Blue Moon and father Louis Zachariaz. She graduated from West Babylon high school in 1954 with a strong determination to travel.

From a young age, Rita excelled in school and loved to read. War and Peace and the Bounty Trilogy were some of her favorites. She had a passion for music and dancing, earning the nickname “Sing Toy” for singing and dancing about the house as a child. As an adult, she enjoyed popular musicians of the day; Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Nancy Wilson, Roberta Flack, Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole and many more. She enjoyed live theater and musicals as a season subscriber of the Seattle Rep and 5th Avenue theaters for many years. She was always an avid baseball enthusiast; first as a diehard NY Yankees fan in her youth, then a most loyal Seattle Mariners fan in adulthood.

When Rita was 19, she joined the Women’s Army Corp (WAC) with a desire to see the world. An initial wish to see Japan landed her in a position in Okinawa. Noboru “Nobi” Hara was also stationed there and worked in the same office. They met and made an impression on each other. She enjoyed her time working in an office handling real estate under civilian supervisors. She encountered worldly co-workers with broad experience in the region. Here she made lifelong friends.

Once discharged, Rita and a WAC friend moved to Columbus, OH, where she found work as a PBX (telephone switchboard) operator for an insurance company. She had been corresponding with Nobi for some time and eventually moved to Seattle, WA. She continued working in Seattle as a PBX operator for the Bell phone company and then at Boeing where she operated Teletype.

In 1962, Rita and Nobi were married. When given the choice between an engagement ring or a honeymoon in Hawaii she chose the beach. They built a house in Seattle’s Mt. Baker neighborhood and raised a son and daughter among a close knit community of parents and neighbors. A neighbor suggested using her GI benefits to further her education. She did, graduating with an Associates degree in Chemical Technology from Seattle Community College in 1978.

Rita was hired by Boeing for their Quality Control Metallurgical Laboratory at the Renton Plant. Boeing sent her back to school where she became certified as a Metallurgical Technician. She was a dedicated worker and enjoyed working with her team. In 1979 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Rita would get chemotherapy treatments on a Friday, and still be at work on Monday. She would later become lead of the Metallurgical lab. She retired from Boeing in 1994.

Rita loved Maui. She and Nobi bought a condo there in 1986 and visited often. She enjoyed the people and culture, walking on the beach, hiking, ukulele and volunteering for many community functions. Her last visit was in early 2020.

Rita was preceded in death by her father and mother. She is survived by her husband Nobi, son Greg and daughter Justine “Taka” (Todd Schwisow), grandsons Dillon and Zachary, her sister Dolores (Zacariaz) DeLeon in New York, several nieces and a nephew. If you wish, please consider making a donation to any of the following in her memory: Fisher Center for Alzheimer's, Breast Cancer.org, Seattle Humane Society, American Indian College Fund, or a charity of your choice. Photos and remembrances may be shared here or at https://my.gather.app/remember/rita-hara

A private burial will be arranged for the family. An outdoor gathering in her memory will be held in the spring of 2022. Please select the "Receive Notifications" link below if you wish to be informed of future plans.