October 1, 2012 at the age of 91. Rita May was the widow of Ralph May. Funeral
services will be held at Levine Chapel in Brookline on Wednesday, October
3rd at 11:00 am. Interment will be at Temple Israel Cemetery at 500 North
Avenue in Wakefield. Memorial observance will be at her former residence,
18 Pitcher Avenue, Medford, on Wednesday immediately following the
interment until 7:00 pm, and on Thursday, October 4th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm
and 7:00 to 9:00 pm, Friday October 5th from 1:00 to 4:00 pm, and Sunday,
October 7th from 12:00 pm until 5:00 pm. Rita May was born November 1,
1920 in Berlin, Germany, the daughter of Otto and Greta Fromholz. Rita and
her parents fled Germany during the Nazi era and arrived in the United
States in 1938. Rita and her husband Ralph first settled in New York
before moving to Winthrop, MA in 1952. Together,Rita and her husband owned
and operated The Ralph May Organization, Inc.,a leather import/export
company with international clients and suppliers. After the death of
her husband in 1973, Rita continued to operate the business for many years
with the help of her daughter, Rhona, and Barry Thomas.
After retiring from the business, Rita pursued many active passions,
including swimming, reading, yoga, traveling, and visiting with friends.
She was also an active patron of the performing arts including music,
opera and theater. In 1993 she returned to Berlin for the first time in 55
years to be welcomed by the city as a Holocaust survivor. In 1995, Rita
organized and led the first ever Holocaust memorial observance in Winthrop
in partnership with the public school system. She was a long-time member
of Temple Israel in Boston where she was a very close personal friend of
many clergy, including Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn.
The education of children was a passion of Rita’s marked by her work as an
intergenerational volunteer in the Frances Jacobson Early Childhood Center
at Temple Israel in Boston. She volunteered for many years in the
school’s Toddler Room, a passion that was commemorated in 2005 on the
occasion of her 85th birthday with the dedication of the room in her
honor. It was not unusual to find Rita dressed in her impeccable style
sprawled on the floor with the toddlers, or with one sitting in her lap.
She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Rhona May-D’Onofrio and
Paul D’Onofrio, two granddaughters, Rebekah May Barkowitz and Danielle May
Thomas, a grandson-in-law, Daniel Barkowitz, and three great-
granddaughters, Rachel May Barkowitz, Caroline Read Barkowitz and Emma
Eloise Driscoll. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Rita May
Toddler Room at the Frances Jacobson Early Childhood Center of Temple
Israel, Boston (477 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02215) or to the charity of
your choice.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
v.1.8.18