Rita Lange

Rita Elizabeth Lange, 95, Sanford Adult Home 69 Guy Park Avenue, Amsterdam, NY, and formerly of 133 Valley View Road, Auriesville, NY; passed away Tuesday evening, June 3, 2014 at Wilkinson Residential Healthcare Facility in Amsterdam.

Born in Amsterdam, on March 15, 1919, she was the daughter of the late Arthur and Mary Going McKearn.

Rita received her education at St. Mary’s Institute in Amsterdam, from where she graduated and was the 1936 Class President.

Rita began her career as a Telephone Operator and advanced her positions to become a Communication Specialist for New York Telephone Company in Amsterdam, where she worked for 38 years.

Rita was a parishioner and communicant of Sacred Heart Church in Tribes Hill, NY.

She was a member of the Telephone Pioneers of America.

Her Husband, Kenneth Lange to whom she married October 3, 1937 passed away August 15, 1992.
Rita is survived by one sister, Margaret Hugo of Amsterdam, many nieces and nephews who she thought of as her grandchildren. She considered herself as a mother to nieces, Margaret and Barbara and nephews, David and Donnie. Several cousins also survive.

Rita was also predeceased by two brothers, John and James McKearn and two sisters, Jeanne Smith and Eileen Billings.

Funeral services will be held Saturday morning at 9:30 at the Riley Mortuary, Inc., 110 Division Street, Amsterdam, NY; followed at 10:15 by a Mass of Christian Burial, which will be celebrated at Sacred Heart Church, 111 Third Avenue Tribes Hill, NY.

Interment will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Fort Johnson, NY.

Calling hours are Friday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Riley Mortuary.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts in Rita’s name may be made to Sacred Heart Church 111 Third Avenue, Tribes Hill, NY, 12177.