- Date Of Birth: October 14, 1921,
- Date Of Death: September 15, 2014
- State: Indiana
Rita M. Vargo, 92, of Elkhart, passed away from natural causes Monday evening, Sept. 15, at Eastlake Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Elkhart.
She was born in Detroit on Oct. 14, 1921, to the late James C. and Blanche (Boulanger) Finney.
She married Francis J. Vargo Sr. on Sept. 29, 1944, in Detroit. He passed away in 1997.
Also preceding her in death was a son, Stephen D. Vargo.
Surviving are her children, Rita (Ray) Michaels of Lansing, Mich., Frank (Barb) Vargo of Elkhart, John (Shary) Vargo of Christchurch, New Zealand, Mary Ellen Kennedy of Adrian, Mich., Blanche (Michael)Stanek of Tecumseh, Mich., and Phillip Vargo of Mesick, Mich. Nineteen grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren survive as well.
Although Rita was a homemaker, she amassed quite a list of accomplishments at the time of her passing. She worked nearly 10 years at TRW, a Southfield, Mich., based credit company. She volunteered her time as a peer counselor at ARC (Adult Recovery Center) in Ann Arbor, Mich, which was designed to help recovering alcoholics. She was a devout member of St. Gemma Catholic Church in Detroit, and was a member of the church’s Rosary Society and Scapular Guild. She was a member of the support staff for St. Paul of the Cross Retreat House in Detroit and a member of the Secular Franciscan Order of St. Francis of Assisi in Ann Arbor. She also volunteered with a group which made cancer pads and heart monitor pockets for patients at all of the Detroit area hospitals. In her free time, she liked flower gardening, reading and traveling.
