Obituary of Rita M. O'Connor

Rita Marie O’Connor passed away on March 9, 2022 at her home in LeRoy, NY in the presence of her loving family.

     Rita was born on September 29, 1934 in LeRoy, the youngest of nine children of the late Louis and Josephine Palumbo Butera.

     Rita is survived by her daughter, Beth (Mike) Coleman and grandson, Michael of Yulee, FL and her son, Timothy (Lee Ann) O’Connor and grandsons, Thomas, John and Mark, of Boca Raton, FL and numerous nieces and nephews.

     She was predeceased by her husband and one true love, Thomas J. O’Connor and siblings, Peter, Catal, Ignatius and Frank Butera, all of Pittston, PA, Mary (Louis) Frank, Leona (John) Mancuso, and Theresa Butera, all of LeRoy, NY and Charles (Meta) Butera of Livonia, NY.

    After completing training at Bryant and Stratton College, Rita worked at the Edith Hartwell Clinic and then as a bookkeeper for the Rochester Telephone Company for 17 years and then as an interpreter for the Genesee Country Village & Museum for 26 years, a role which brought her great enjoyment.

     Rita was a generous woman with a beautiful soul, who devoted her life to the care of her family.  Her grandsons became her reason for living and they adored her in return.

     Her final years were made so much more meaningful by the incredible care and love she received from her aides – Molly, Martha, Danielle, Michelle, Olivia, Cheryl and Sharon, who became a second family to her and filled her days with untold kindness.

     She will be remembered as a woman with an unlimited capacity to love her family and friends and for her ability to add joy to those whose lives she touched.  For this, and so much more, she will be dearly missed.

     Rita was a devout Catholic and a woman who possessed throughout her life, an enduring faith in God.

     Family and friends may call on Friday, March 25 from 4 ~ 8 PM at the Falcone Family Funeral & Cremation Service Inc., 8700 Lake St. Rd. (Rt. 19), LeRoy.  Her Rite of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, March 26 at 11:00 AM at Our Lady of Mercy Parish, St. Peter's Church, 44 Lake St., LeRoy.  A reception will follow Rita's mass and burial.

     In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the Genesee Country Village & Museum, 1410 Flint Hill Road, Mumford, NY 14511 (585) 294-8253.  www.gcv.org/give-join/give-now/