Obituary of Rita Marian Regan

Rita Marian (nee Nordin) Regan,93, passed away on the evening of September 11, 2016, in Morristown,NJ with her daughters Kathleen and Diana by her side. Rita - a resident of Phillipsburg, for 35 years - was lovingly attended to by the 4th floor staff of Morris Hills Center, Morristown, NJ where she resided for the past eight years. Born September 30, 1922 in Newark, Rita was a strong-willed woman with a loving heart who was sustained by her Catholic faith. She was raised on a farm in Gillette, which is where her love of cats began. During World War II Rita lived in Newark, NJ and worked at Newark Airport to process returning WWII soldiers back into the United States. In 1948 Rita married Arthur J. Regan in Elkton, MD. After 29 years, they divorced. When her children were young, Rita worked part-time as a bookkeeper. She found her true calling as an antiques dealer, operating a shop in Rahway during the 1970’s, and frequented flea markets with her wares throughout NJ and Pennsylvania for the next thirty years. Over the course of her life, Rita served as a volunteer with a number of organizations, including the American Red Cross Motor Corps, American Legion Post 102 Women’s Auxiliary, Cub Scouts, and Franklin School in Rahway, NJ as “class mother”. She studied for, and passed, her GED, of which she was very proud. Rita had a beautiful singing voice, played the piano, and enjoyed oil painting. She invested more than 34 years in genealogical research. Over the past eight years she received communion weekly from Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Morristown, NJ. Rita is survived by her children Kathleen Regan Figley and her husband Charles, Tallahassee, FL; Diana Regan Ramsey and her husband Philip M. Gartlan, Califon, NJ; Arthur John Regan, Jr., Lincoln Park, NJ; her granddaughter, Alyson Ramsey Johnson, Califon, NJ, and her three great-grandchildren, Tucker, Cooper, and Finley; step-grandchildren Jessica and Michael Chynoweth, Placitas, NM and their children Maya and Zen; Laura and Brian Lundblom , Santa Rosa Beach, FL and their children Lily and Laila; and Elizabeth Vukovic Gartlan and husband Danilo and their children Mia Isabel and Luka, Collingswood NJ. She was preceded in death by her mother Jessie (nee Kubinski) Nordin, father Wallace P. Nordin, and her granddaughter Megan Louise Ramsey. Memorial Visitation will be held on Friday, September 16, 2016 from 1:30 – 3:30 PM at Morris Hills Center, 77 Madison Avenue, Morristown, NJ. Rita’s final resting place will be at Our Lady of Czestochowa Cemetery, Doylestown, PA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Peace Plantation Animal Sanctuary, National Humane Education Society, P.O. Box 340, Charles Town, WV 25414-0340 or Life Choice Hospice, 45 Eisenhower Drive, Suite 240, Paramus NJ 07652.