Rita DeJohn

Rita Jean DeJohn of Vernon, died at Manchester Memorial Hospital on December 19th, 2017, due to complications from multiple sclerosis. Born on July 3, 1952, she was the third of eight children of the late Anthony DeJohn and Margaret (Gedeon) DeJohn. Rita had a bright, kind personality and maintained this through her 65 years of triumphs and challenges. She grew up in Wethersfield and in 1978 received a B.A. degree in French from the University of Connecticut, having studied for a time as an exchange student in Rouen, France. After graduation, she started a career in banking in Hartford. Rita spent her early working years in Glastonbury in her newly renovated condominium, then moved to Columbia for a time. In 1993, as her medical symptoms progressed, she moved to Woodlake at Tolland, a newly opened nursing and health care center. Over the next 24 years, she acquired a second large family of staff and fellow residents with whom she shared her gifts of compassion, creativity, and wit. Rita left her impression on every aspect of Woodlake, as one of the first to make the place her home. She served as president and secretary of the residents' council, composed nearly daily works of prose, read countless books on her Kindle, and participated in many memorial celebrations upon the passing away of her fellow residents. She also famously volunteered her opinions on room décor, parakeet care, thermostat settings, and proper coffee preparation. Throughout her life, all the more extraordinarily as her health increasingly limited her activities, Rita revealed her remarkable strength and grace. No problem seemed too challenging, everything she had she cherished, and she wasted nothing of what life gave her to make her own full and rewarding. She will inspire and be missed by all who knew and loved her. Rita is survived by her siblings and their spouses Paula DeJohn and Don Merrill, Carole Henry, Virginia DeJohn Anderson and Fred Anderson, Marie DeJohn and Matthew McKiernan, Thomas DeJohn and Carrie Tarca, Daniel DeJohn, and Suzanne DeJohn. She also leaves her nephew Samuel DeJohn Anderson, niece Andrea Boyle and spouse Jamie Boyle, and grandniece Kate Boyle. The family will receive relatives and friends on Wednesday, December 27, 2017 from 5 - 7 p.m. at the D'Esopo Funeral Chapel, 277 Folly Brook Boulevard, Wethersfield. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers the family requests you make a donation to the charity of your choice in Rita's name. For online expressions of sympathy, please visit www.desopo.com.