Rita Goodrich

Rita was born in Edmeston, NY, the daughter of the late Henry and Elsie Williams Spooner. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband, Earl Goodrich; her son, Matthew Goodrich; her brothers, Dean and Mark Spooner; and her sisters, Janet Anderson and Chris Taylor.

She is survived by her daughter, Amy (Brian) Goodrich; three grandchildren, Jaclin, Andrew, and Cortnie; and three great-grandchildren, Elora, Gabriel, and Asha. She is also survived by her sister, Lori (Jeff) Guido of MD.

A lifetime resident of the area, Rita grew up on the family farm and graduated from Leonardsville Central School. On June 8, 1963, she married her loving husband of 53 years in Dillon, SC. She obtained her degree in education from The State University of New York at Oneonta and was a dedicated elementary school teacher for many years in the Unatego School District.

Not only was Rita devoted to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but she also always welcomed anyone in need of loving care into her home. She always put the needs of others before her own. In addition to her passion for learning, reading, and teaching, she passed on her love of music, sewing, and cooking. She created many memories with her husband and children of playing guitar, accordion, and singing on the porch. She even drove herself and her daughter to guitar lessons in a sparkly purple dune buggy. Rita enjoyed baking birthday cakes and making Halloween costumes. Some of her favorite things were playing Sudoku and Word Search puzzles, drinking tea, and eating Stewart’s chocolate peanut butter ice cream.

One of Rita’s final wishes was that her remains be donated for medical study.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Upstate Medical University Anatomical Gift Program https://www.upstatefoundation.org/page.aspx?pid=298 or the American Cancer Society https://donate.cancer.org/ .