Rita Ileana Gowans

It is with a mixture of sadness and joy that we announce that God has finally claimed his Rita, and she is now in heaven with our dad. She was born in 1930 at her parents' homestead in Saskatchewan, not far from Grasslands National Park. Her childhood was lived in many rural places in Saskatchewan, including Waseca and Vibank. After high school, Rita attended Normal School in Moose Jaw. Her teaching career - almost all of it in one-room schoolhouses - occurred in Saskatchewan, Yukon, and northern British Columbia. Rita and her husband, Art, met while Rita was briefly working at BC Tel. Together, Rita and Art had six children, and nearly sixty years of married life. Rita was a devoted and capable volunteer throughout her life. Her final volunteer activity, visiting patients at Burnaby Hospital, only ended due to COVID-19 lockdowns. A capital-E extrovert, Rita was the first to greet newcomers in any of her communities. She loved her family, her friends, travel, and gardening. Rita was predeceased by her husband, Art, her brothers, Jerry and Alec, and she is survived by her centenarian older sister, Lee. Other survivors include her children Eileen (Bill) Hutson, Jamie, Blaise (Kath), Alex, Gerald (Olive), Geoff (Angela), her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, cousins, and friends. Our thanks go to staff and residents at Mulberry Parc, Belvedere Care Centre, and the South Burnaby Lawn Bowls Club. We would also like to thank Bill Connelly for his eucharistic ministry to Mum. To celebrate her memory, mourners are invited to bring flowers, preferably cut from their own gardens, to Saint Mary's Catholic Church 5251 Joyce Street, Vancouver, for prayers and viewing 10:00am to 11:00am and funeral 11:00am to 12:00 noon on Saturday 17 May 2025.