Obituary of Rita F. Chanfrau

On January 25, 2020, Rita Frances Chanfrau (née Reid) died peacefully after a 14-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease at The Inn at Silver Lake in Kingston, MA. Rita was born in Buffalo, NY, during the Great Depression in 1930. Five years later, with her father unable to find employment, their family moved to Kingston, Jamaica, the home of her parents’ birth. With the help of financial assistance from her mother’s brother, Laurence Joseph (Fogarty), they remained for seven years before returning to the United States. They initially lived in the home of a friend in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan before settling in the University Heights section of the Bronx. Rita attended St. Nicholas of Tolentine grammar and high schools, graduating in 1949. She married Dick Chanfrau, from the same neighborhood, on September 5, 1953. With $54 in savings, they invited Dick’s widowed mother, Winnie (McNamara), to move in, and she remained with them for 21 years. Rita gave birth to her first child, Jean-Marie, in 1954, and to Don in 1956. Jean-Marie succumbed to Guillain-Barré syndrome in 1958. Rita gave birth to Bob in 1962, Karen in 1964, and Steve in 1966. When the family moved to Waldwick, NJ, in 1976, they brought Rita’s widowed mother, Eleanor, who lived with them until her death in 1984. Rita and Dick remained there until 1996, when they retired to Brewster, MA, after their children married and moved out of town. Despite their humble beginnings and the heartache of their first child’s death, through their shared faith, Rita and Dick overcame those obstacles and, completely devoted to one another, enjoyed 59 years of an extraordinarily loving marriage. In addition to being a homemaker and steady presence for her children, Rita worked outside the home and dedicated herself to 40 consecutive years of volunteer work for children and adults who had a broad range of physical and emotional challenges, all of whom benefited from her unique ability to listen and provide comfort. Rita will be remembered by her friends and co-workers for her infectious laugh, her boundless generosity, and as a confidante and trusted friend. Rita is pre-deceased by her parents, Eleanor (Fogarty) and Donald Reid; her older sisters, Dorothy and Eleanor (Jaeger); her husband, Richard William; and their daughter, Jean-Marie. She is survived by her devoted daughter, Karen O’Leary, her husband, Michael, and grandchildren Caroline and Conor of Kingston, MA; her son, Donald, and his wife, Marybeth, of Boston; her son, Robert Reid, and his wife, Pamela, of Midlothian, VA; and her son, Steven, and grandchildren Ginger and Holly of Tacoma and Lakewood, WA, respectively. A funeral mass will be held at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic church at 272 Main Street in Kingston, MA, on February 7th at 10:00 am. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the non-profit Alzheimer’s Association.