- Date Of Birth: November 13, 1938
- Date Of Death: October 2, 2021
- State: Colorado
Rita Jewell Pozza (née Smithson), born November 13, 1938, in Alpha, Michigan, passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 2, 2021, at her daughter’s home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Rita grew up in Alpha, Michigan, graduating from Alpha High School in 1956, and attending college at Michigan State University and California State University, Long Beach, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree. She married Jack on August 2, 1958, and enjoyed being by his side for the 29 years he dutifully served in the U.S. Marine Corps. They moved to Northern Virginia in 1974 and retired while living in Fairfax Station, Virginia. Rita worked for the U.S. Army and then for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as a computer programmer. Several years after Jack’s death, Rita moved to Temecula, California, to enjoy being closer to her son and the warmer weather.
She is survived by her three children, John (Paula) Pozza of Temecula, California, Jayelene (Mark) Betonti of Keswick, Virginia, and Joelle (Ken) Shreves of Colorado Springs, Colorado; six grandchildren, Julian Pozza, Nicholas and Dominique Betonti, Hayden Pozza-Gaskell, Charlie (Brenna) Shreves, and Andy Shreves; one great-grandchild, Josie Blair Shreves; and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, her parents, Ben and Vienna Smithson, three brothers, Russell, Ben Jr., and Lyle Smithson, one sister, Ruth Ann Weber, and her sisters-in-law, Margaret Smithson, Gertrude Smithson, Doris Smithson, and Carolyn Smithson.
Rita loved to dance with Jack.
The legacy of Rita and her husband, Jack, live on in the Jack Pozza Memorial Scholarship she established in his name at Iron Mountain High School.
