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Rita Andelin was born in Chicago on September 20, 1913, and passed away about sunrise on Sunday, May 7, 2017, at the age of 103. She had a brief graveside service at Columbia Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, VA, on May 10, 2017, and a memorial gathering of friends and family on the following Saturday. Rita had a rough early childhood. She lived a few months at a time with family members or friends of the family or, sometimes, with strangers, moving back and forth from one to the other. Nine elementary schools, some of them more than once. Off to a farm in Indiana when she was 9 (alone, by train from Chicago), then several months at the Chicago Home for the Friendless at 13 when her then stepfather made threats. She read books, a lot – her escape route. Though hoping to be a teacher, Rita was forced to drop out of school after 10th grade to earn money for her family. She was sent to Germany at 17 “to get married,” but came back single a year later saying that Hitler, whom she had seen at rallies, was crazy and would ruin Germany. Her life’s savings of $18 were wiped out in the Crash of ‘29. She married John (Jack) Andelin at 19 (eloped), and had three children, two of whom died in infancy. The Depression found Rita making sandwiches for Dust Bowl refugees knocking at her door. Sporadic at first, then pretty regular when the word got around that this lady would feed you. Neighbors didn’t have to knock – she regularly took “leftovers” to the large family next door. Then there was December 8, 1941 – the day after Pearl Harbor. Her son came home from school that Monday saying that a friend, Joe, was being picked on, and what should he do. Joe was Korean, assumed by classmates to be Japanese and therefore the enemy. Rita said, “You liked Joe on Friday. Why wouldn’t you like him today?” By way of explanation, Rita’s family had come from Germany. When WWI broke out, a teacher told her that she didn’t belong her and she should to get out of the Country. Rita remembered this well – welcoming others instead, whether immigrant or long time American, regardless of ethnicity, skin color, sexual orientation or religion. Rita moved to California in 1948, then to Virginia in 1984 to live near her son and daughter-in-law. At her 100th birthday she wore a lapel pin that said “I survived just about everything,” which was more true than not – caught by an uncle when she fell out of an upstairs window, landed in a snow bank when hit by a car, saved from a runaway horse, at school when her house burned down. And then there were World Wars I and II, the Great Depression, the 1917-18 influenza pandemic, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flash floods, and an emergency landing in Siberia because the plane’s wings were icing up and it was running out of fuel. Just about everything. Those who’ve known Rita over the years say that she was a natural teacher, sharing facts about food and family and the Depression and the 20s, and about plants and animals and clouds, and about exotic places around the World. Even more important were the more subtle, often unspoken, lessons. When asked a question she couldn’t answer, she’d come back with “Let’s look it up,” modeling by her response the importance of curiosity and the process of learning as well as looking for specific answers. Always adventuresome (“my bags are packed and I’m ready to go”) — Rita saw lava flows, Northern Lights, geysers, castles, tungsten mines, sheep ranches, Las Vegas before traffic lights, National Parks and World-renowned cities, stalactites and stalagmites, changing of guards here and there – and ate weinerschnitzel in Vienna and Caesar salad at the Caesar Hotel in Mexico. Rita was recently described as “a wonderful example of someone living a full and interesting life.” She was resilient and optimistic (“it’ll get better”) almost to a fault. She valued education, acceptance of others, loving relationships, curiosity, charity and humor. Rita welcomed private conversations with someone having issues, listening to them and, thanks to a difficult childhood and a long life, she was often able to say “when that happened to me . . . “ and could then reassure them that “this, too, will pass.” She’s saying that to us now. Rita is survived by her son, John, Jr., and her daughter-in-law, Virginia Geoffrey, as well as the dozens of extended family members she dearly loved. Her husband of nearly 62 years, Jack, passed away in 1995. Rita’s advice for a happy and fulfilling life was to enjoy the company of others, stay curious, accept mistakes and move on, and lend a hand to those who need help. In that regard, donations in Rita’s memory may be made to your favorite charity, especially if it supports education, social justice, refugees and immigrants, or those in our society who’ve been subjected to abuse or neglect.

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Rita Andelin Obituary | Altogether