Rita R Baena's Obituary
Our princess, our foxy lady Rita Rochelle Baena was born in New York City on June 28, 1932 to Joseph and Ethel Bejarano. She grew up in the Bronx as an only child, her older brother having passed when she was still a toddler. Rita had a lively childhood surrounded by extended family and many friends, including Robert Baena whom she would eventually marry. Robert adored Rita as much any man has ever loved any woman, and together they had three girls. They relocated to Rockland County, New York to raise their family amidst flowering trees and the Palisade mountains.
All who knew Rita would agree that she had an infectious sparkle that came not only from her glistening jewelry but from her vivacious charm. She was a great storyteller, a deep listener, and a ball of fun.
In spite of keeping an immaculately clean house, Rita’s grandchildren were never deprived of the joy of playing in her lush damask curtains. She knew how to play! Even into her 80s, she was often game for a deep dive into an imaginative world on the living room floor with her great-grandchildren. With three daughters, four granddaughters and three great-granddaughters, she likely painted hundreds, if not thousands, of finger and toe nails in her lifetime. In this sea of beautiful girls, her grandson and four great-grandsons were the apple of her eye! GiGi (as her greats called her) was a card shark, always up for a board game, could swim in the deep end of any conversation, loved great food, Barbara Streisand, Broadway shows, and page-turning novels. Her love of life will live on in the stories handed down to future generations.
Rita passed from this life into the next in Delray Beach on January 29. 2021. She will be deeply missed by her three daughters: Ellen Yousef and her wife Babs Wilcox, Lisa Horn and her husband Stuart, and Andrea Macdonald and her husband James; her five grandchildren: Jenni Stahlmann and her husband Matthew, Heather Horn, Spencer Horn, Emily Robinson and her husband Conor, and Arlynn Macdonald; and her seven great-grandchildren: Griffyn, Skyler, Seth and his wife Samantha, Samuel, Eden, Matty Jay,and Rhema Stahlmann.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, services will not be open to the public. Donations in her memory can made to Florida Parent Educators Association. As an avid reader herself, education was important to Rita, and she was very supportive of homeschooling in particular.
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