Rita P. O'Flinn

(Age 81)

Passed away peacefully on March 24, 2018, at her home in Arlington, Virginia. Ms. O’Flinn was born Feb. 20, 1937 in Meridian, Mississippi., the eldest of two children. She was the daughter of Pearl Vick O’Flinn and William Patrick O’Flinn, both deceased.

Ms. O’Flinn’s family moved from Meridian to the Washington area in 1943. She graduated from Washington and Lee High School in Arlington in 1954. Ms. O’Flinn did some local modeling in the 1950s and was selected for the Kann’s Department Store Teen Board. She later attended Madison College in Virginia. She married Ferris Gentzler in 1956 and they raised three children. The family left the Washington, D.C. area for Charleston, South Carolina in 1969. After her marriage ended in divorce in the late 1970’s, Ms. O’Flinn returned to the Washington area.

She worked for the federal government for more than 30 years, beginning with the Civil Service Commission (now OPM), and later the State Department, the National Security Council, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Pentagon. Her career included an assignment in Vienna, Austria in support of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. She also worked for the International Women’s Year Commission in 1977, supporting the National Women’s Conference in Houston.

Following her retirement in the late 1990’s, she enjoyed time with her children and grandchildren and in 2009 moved to the Culpepper Garden assisted living community in Arlington. She will be remembered for her sharp wit, style, story-telling, independent spirit, love of gardening, loyalty to the Washington Redskins, and her devotion to her family.

Ms. O’Flinn is survived by her three children, Doreen Gentzler Miller of Chevy Chase, Maryland, John Gentzler, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and William Gentzler, also of Myrtle Beach. She also is survived by five grandchildren: Lauren, Amanda, Christopher, Carson, and Jacob, as well as a brother, William Patrick O’Flinn Jr. of Fredericksburg, Virginia, two nieces and a nephew. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 16, 2018 at the National Funeral Home, 7482 Lee Highway, Falls, Church, Virginia with interment at National Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Rita O’Flinn Memorial Fund, Culpepper Garden, 4435 N Pershing Dr, Arlington VA 22203 in recognition of the staff’s wonderful care and support. Online donations can be made here: https://culpeppergarden.org/donate/donate-online/