Rita A. Keiser

March 8, 2013

Rita Ann Keiser, most recently of Florence, Oregon, passed peacefully in her sleep on March 8, 2013. She succumbed to a recurrence of cancer, facing it with the dignity and humor that were her hallmarks. She was 78. Born in Mishawaka, Indiana, Rita was the daughter of the late John P. Keiser and the late Mildred L. Beehler Keiser, and the sister of the late Dr. Thomas J. A. Keiser of St. Louis, Missouri. She was preceded in death by her former husband, Robert G. Hinckley, and her longtime companion, Andrew L. Lemar, both of Rhode Island.

She is survived by her sister, Judy J. Dahlberg, of Florence; brothers John E. Keiser of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Beehler Keiser of Ashtabula, Ohio; six nephews and nieces; and 17 great-nieces and nephews.

Rita graduated from Riley High School in South Bend, Indiana, and attended MacMurray College for Women in Jacksonville, Illinois.

She was employed by the University of Chicago, National Opinion Research Center for ten years before moving to Rhode Island in 1976. There she worked at Brown University in Providence until her retirement. South County was always her home while she lived in Rhode Island. She became an accomplished recreational angler and was an active member of the Narragansett Pier Sportfishing Association. Rita was also a talented seamstress and embroiderer, turning out hundreds of original designs for family and friends. She was quick to make friends and steadfast in keeping them. Her wit was matched by her compassion, her sense of humor, by her unfailing generosity.

In Florence, a Celebration of Life for Rita will be held on Sunday, April 28, at 2:00 p.m. at Driftwood Shores. In Rhode Island, a memorial service for Rita is planned for this summer at Point Judith. Tributes and donations may be made in her memory at www.CaringBridge.org . Enter ritakeiser to log onto her site. Burns's Riverside Chapel Florence Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Published by Eugene Register-Guard on Mar. 21, 2013.

07/05/2023 EJS

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/registerguard/name/rita-keiser-obituary?id=18297565