Rita Vitale
Loving Wife, Mother, Grandmother and Crackerjack Bookkeeper
Rita (D’Ortona) Vitale of Revere, formerly of East Boston, passed away at the age of 89 on July 5.
Rita and her late husband, Charlie raised their family in the Beachmont section of Revere. In the early years, Rita entertained her family by playing the organ and ukulele, which she taught herself to play. She and Charlie sang along with the kids often. Rita enjoyed doing crafts of all sorts, including sewing, knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching and cake decorating. In more recent years, her favorite hobby was scrapbooking. She lovingly made beautiful scrap books for her children and grandchildren using the many pictures she took over the years. Before and after raising her family, Rita was a cracker-jack bookkeeper.
Born in Boston on March 4, 1931 to the late Nicholas and Mary (Costa) D’Ortona, she was the beloved wife of 56 years to the late Charles (Charlie) Vitale Sr., devoted mother to Charles (Chuckie) Vitale Jr. of Lynn and his partner, Debbie Dwyer, Patti Vitale Cameron and her husband, Dan of Reading and Maria Vitale Cannatella of Peabody; dear sister of Lorraine Repoli and Marianne Fiore, both of Revere and the proud grandmother of John Jr. and Joseph Cannatella, Christopher, Gregory and Stephanie Cameron, and Darla Vitale. Rita was mother in law to Cindy Vitale of Medford and John Cannatella of Salem, NH. She is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held privately due to Covid-19. The family is planning a memorial service to celebrate Rita’s life in early August. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are welcome to Dementia Society of America, PO Box 600, Doylestown, PA 18901 https://www.dementiasociety.org/ For guest book please visit www.buonfiglio.com