VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Rita Theresa Dion, 84, of Virginia Beach, passed away peacefully at home on Friday Oct. 25, 2024. Beloved wife, mother and grandmother, Rita was born on July 27, 1940 in Nashua, NH, the daughter of the late Omer and Blanche (Binette) Martel. Shortly after her birth, the family moved to Sanford, Maine, where she spent her childhood years, graduating from St. Ignatius High School in 1959.
A military wife, Rita lived in several states and the Mariana Islands during her husband’s naval career. Mrs. Dion was employed as a middle school teacher’s aide for nine years in Merrimack, NH. A giving person, she volunteered her services as a Eucharistic Minister, a religious education teacher, an elementary school reading resource assistant and a Girl Scout Leader.
The couple settled in Virginia Beach in 1997 where she was a communicant at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church and was actively involved in the church’s sandwich brigade outreach program. Rita loved reading, writing, baking, gardening and was a people person. Her love of family was manifest when entertaining her grandchildren and at family gatherings.
Rita is survived by her high school sweetheart and husband, Robert J. Dion, whom she married on April 18, 1960. She is also survived by their two daughters, Belinda (James) Graeff and Melissa Dion; and four beloved grandchildren, Ashley and Jamie Graeff and Kieran and Caelis Chifokoyo. She was predeceased by their son Phillip J. Dion who died in December 1989; and her sisters Cecile (Paul) Fanjoy, Margaret (Robert) Sevigny and Pauline (Kenneth) Trolinder. She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7, at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Virginia Beach, Va. with the Reverend Felix Amofa officiating. The family will receive friends following the service at the church. The interment will be private and will take place at the Eastern Shore Chapel Cemetery, Virginia Beach.
H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments Inc. is managing arrangements. Online condolences may be made to the family at hdoliver.com.
In lieu of flowers,
memorial contributions may be made to:
St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital
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