Rita Mary Thayer

Our loving mother passed into Heaven today, November 4, 2016, in Sanford, Florida. She was a wonderful, caring Mother, Grandmother and Great-grandmother. We love and already miss her. She is survived by her daughters, Lorraine Brown and Elizabeth Kendall; grandchildren, Travis Campbell, Lisa Martinez, Holly Cusimano and John Demel; step-grandchildren, Helen and Virginia Kendall; great-grandchildren, Dustin Martinez, Elizabeth Ledbetter, Jessie Whitney, and Adrian Morin; brother, Ben Gallant; as well as her nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Leroy Thayer; and sisters, Anna Caccavalle and Agnes Symbouras. She will be buried beside her husband in the Anahuac Cemetery.

Rita spent her early childhood in Fall River with her grandmother. She moved to New York City when she was eight to be with her mother and father who were operating a hotel. When she was 16 her mother passed and her role became raising her brother Ben Gallant, and helping her father run the hotel. Later she moved to Texas in the 1940s, where she said, "I thought I found heaven." She met Leroy and fell in love, they married in January, 1949, and settled in Channelview. Rita was completely satisfied being a homemaker and mother.

Rita moved to Galveston in 1988 to be near her daughter Lorraine. She moved to reside with her daughter, Elizabeth, in Sanford, FL, following Hurricane Ike in 2008.

The family will receive friends on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at Earthman Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, November 9, 2016 at 10:00 am at Earthman Funeral Home with interment following at Anahuac Cemetery.