Former long-time Roseburg, Oregon, resident Rita A. Simpson, 95, died on Thursday, September 20, 2007, in Gresham, Oregon. Rita was born April 22, 1912, in Belgrade, Montana, to Samuel C. and Jennie (Gilchrist) Witt, and was raised with her five brothers and sisters on a dry homestead near Jordan, Montana. She worked in her early years in Helena, Montana, and in Washington, D.C. before returning to Billings, Montana, and marrying Neel Simpson in 1938. Neel and Rita moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1941, then to Roseburg in 1955, where they raised their five children. Rita worked in timber sales for the U.S. Forest Service for many years until her retirement in 1977. Rita was an avid reader, an accomplished crossword puzzler, and a formidable opponent in Scrabble and Othello. She loved to take her grandchildren on picnics and to baseball games, and enjoyed tending her vegetable garden and canning fruit and jam well into her eighties.
She attended First Conservative Baptist Church, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and spent many years researching family genealogy. Rita was preceded in death by her husband, Neel in 1995 and by two grandsons. She was a wonderful, giving mother to her five children who survive her, Jeannie Simpson of Roseburg; Walter Simpson of Portland, Oregon; Beth Simpson of Anchorage, Alaska; George Steven Simpson of Roseburg; and Bonnie Zollner of Gresham. She is also survived by eleven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, as well as her sister, Pearl Langstaff and her brother, Stanley Witt of Billings, Montana. A memorial service was held at Mosaic Church in Portland at 11 a.m. on Monday, September 24, 2007. On Tuesday, September 25 at 1 p.m., a graveside service was held at Roseburg Memorial Gardens.
She attended First Conservative Baptist Church, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and spent many years researching family genealogy. Rita was preceded in death by her husband, Neel in 1995 and by two grandsons. She was a wonderful, giving mother to her five children who survive her, Jeannie Simpson of Roseburg; Walter Simpson of Portland, Oregon; Beth Simpson of Anchorage, Alaska; George Steven Simpson of Roseburg; and Bonnie Zollner of Gresham. She is also survived by eleven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, as well as her sister, Pearl Langstaff and her brother, Stanley Witt of Billings, Montana. A memorial service was held at Mosaic Church in Portland at 11 a.m. on Monday, September 24, 2007. On Tuesday, September 25 at 1 p.m., a graveside service was held at Roseburg Memorial Gardens.
Former long-time Roseburg, Oregon, resident Rita A. Simpson, 95, died on Thursday, September 20, 2007, in Gresham, Oregon. Rita was born April 22, 1912, in Belgrade, Montana, to Samuel C. and Jennie (Gilchrist) Witt, and was raised with her five brothers and sisters on a dry homestead near Jordan, Montana. She worked in her early years in Helena, Montana, and in Washington, D.C. before returning to Billings, Montana, and marrying Neel Simpson in 1938. Neel and Rita moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1941, then to Roseburg in 1955, where they raised their five children. Rita worked in timber sales for the U.S. Forest Service for many years until her retirement in 1977. Rita was an avid reader, an accomplished crossword puzzler, and a formidable opponent in Scrabble and Othello. She loved to take her grandchildren on picnics and to baseball games, and enjoyed tending her vegetable garden and canning fruit and jam well into her eighties.
She attended First Conservative Baptist Church, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and spent many years researching family genealogy. Rita was preceded in death by her husband, Neel in 1995 and by two grandsons. She was a wonderful, giving mother to her five children who survive her, Jeannie Simpson of Roseburg; Walter Simpson of Portland, Oregon; Beth Simpson of Anchorage, Alaska; George Steven Simpson of Roseburg; and Bonnie Zollner of Gresham. She is also survived by eleven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, as well as her sister, Pearl Langstaff and her brother, Stanley Witt of Billings, Montana. A memorial service was held at Mosaic Church in Portland at 11 a.m. on Monday, September 24, 2007. On Tuesday, September 25 at 1 p.m., a graveside service was held at Roseburg Memorial Gardens.
She attended First Conservative Baptist Church, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and spent many years researching family genealogy. Rita was preceded in death by her husband, Neel in 1995 and by two grandsons. She was a wonderful, giving mother to her five children who survive her, Jeannie Simpson of Roseburg; Walter Simpson of Portland, Oregon; Beth Simpson of Anchorage, Alaska; George Steven Simpson of Roseburg; and Bonnie Zollner of Gresham. She is also survived by eleven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren, as well as her sister, Pearl Langstaff and her brother, Stanley Witt of Billings, Montana. A memorial service was held at Mosaic Church in Portland at 11 a.m. on Monday, September 24, 2007. On Tuesday, September 25 at 1 p.m., a graveside service was held at Roseburg Memorial Gardens.
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