Rita Janosko Goreschak

Rita Janosko Goreschak, 89, passed away peacefully on March 6, 2026, at her home in Mandarin, Florida surrounded by her loving family and dedicated caregivers. She met the love of her life, William (“Will”) Goreschak, at Stratford High School in Connecticut, with a first date at the movies on Easter Sunday 1952. In 1956 she married Will and in 1957 they celebrated the arrival of their first child. Rita fully embraced marriage and raising a family and before long two more children gave Rita much to do on the homefront.

In 1969, after the loss of her mother, just a few years after the loss of her father, Rita, Will and their 3 children moved south to Boca Raton, Florida. After first working as a homemaker, Rita started working secretarial jobs, ending up as a secretary at Arvida, a major south Florida developer. After learning the ins and outs of the real estate industry from behind a secretary’s desk, in 1975 Rita decided she wanted a shot at selling new homes in Estancia, one of Arvida’s new communities in Boca Raton. Rita’s attention to detail, her work ethic and her uncanny ability to build rapport with her customers, by truly caring about them as people, earned her great success and respect in the growing Boca Raton real estate market in the late 70’s and 1980’s. Since moving to Boca in 1969, Rita always loved the beach and sunshine, and in the late 70’s an oceanfront condo on Hutchinson Island, Florida became the family gathering place for weekend getaways and holidays for years to come, which always included hours of fun on the beach, in the pool, playing games and of course eating well. After selling at a number of other Arvida new home communities, she had great success at The Sanctury and then Boca Grove Plantation before she and Will left Boca in 1989 to move north to Hutchinson Island. There she sold new oceanfront condominiums from the ground up at the Empress and later Regency Island Dunes projects, and later working in general sales, reselling many of the condos she had sold years earlier. In 2004 Rita retired from real estate and focused on staying healthy, the beach, golf and visiting family in Boca and Jacksonville.

In 2013, after many happy years of retirement in Jensen Beach, Will and Rita moved to Fruit Cove, Florida to be closer to their children and grandchildren. After losing the love of her life in 2017, Rita enjoyed some good years at Westminster Woods retirement community, but the COVID lock down took its toll on her body and her memory, which before then allowed her to fully enjoy her family and friends. After COVID passed, Rita was never the same, but was fortunate to have two incredible loving caregivers, Ernite and Marie, by her side day and night for almost 5 years, literally until the moment she passed on.

Rita was always quite a talker, but she was rarely talking about herself, instead always asking others about how they or their families were doing. As a lifelong Catholic, she had a deep faith in God and truly cared about others more than herself. During her later years battling worsening Alzheimer’s/Dementia symptoms, she was always pleasant and nice to her family, other residents, facility staff and her caregivers. Even as communication became more and more difficult, her true colors and kind nature always shined through. Although Rita never attended college, she was very proud to have all three of her children and both grandchildren attend the University of Florida.

Rita is a beloved daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother, aunt, and grandmother. She is predeceased by: her husband of 61 years William W. Goreschak; her parents Theodore T. “Tim” Janosko and Helen Stasko Janosko; and her brother Fred Kelly. Surviving family include: her sister Marianne Yeomans of Stratford, CT; her three children: Mary Kay Goreschak of New Smyrna, FL; Ellen Goreschak of St Johns, FL; and Bill Goreschak (Sheri) of Jacksonville, FL; two grandchildren: David Goreschak of Lancaster, CA and Eric Goreschak of Denver, CO.

A memorial service will be held for family and friends at 10:00 am on Monday, March 30, 2026, at Oaklawn Chapel and Cemetery, located at 4801 San Jose Blvd in Jacksonville.