Rita Londers was born in El Dorado, Kansas on January 25, 1928. She moved to Beaumont with her family in 1944. After graduating from St. Anthony’s High School in 1945, she went to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. She was a network administrator when she retired in February, 1986. She worked on the marketing committee, and served as a member of the board of Beaumont Telco Federal Credit Union until early 2002. She was a very active member of the Telephone Pioneers, donating many hours to their volunteer programs in the Golden Triangle Area during her employment, and after her retirement.
Rita was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 2002, and moved into the Ridgewood Center in 2003. She was evacuated to the Hampton at Willowbrook in Houston in September, 2005 when Hurricane Rita made landfall on the Texas/Louisiana Gulf Coast. She has been in private home care in Katy, Texas since June, 2008 where she died of metastatic gastric carcinoma on Thursday, February 4, 2010.
She is preceded in death by her father, Joseph H. Rodenkirch; her mother, Eva Mae Rodenkirch; two sisters, Eva Marie Richardson and Loretta Patton; and two brothers, Joseph E and John Rodenkirch. She is survived by her daughters, Mary Jordan and Casey Karen Windrider; one aunt, Clodine Britting; three sisters, Josephine Elliott, Margaret Broussard, and Barbara Smith; two grandsons, Troy Knight and John Jordan; one granddaughter, Alana Jordan; and two great grandchildren, Hannah and Michael Knight.
The family sends their thanks out to the Caamano and Callaghan families, with special thanks to Cheryl, for all of the love and care they have given Mama Rita over the past three years.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 6, 2010, at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church with burial to follow at Forest Lawn Memorial Park under the direction of Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A gathering of her family and friends will be from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Friday, February 5, 2010, at Broussard’s.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to Alzheimer’s Association, 700 North Street, Suite M, Beaumont, Texas 77701.
