Rita Helen (Farrell) Dean
Born: June 7th, 1909
Passed on: December 18th, 2008
June 7, 1909-Dec. 18, 2008 Passed away peacefully at the Harbourstone Enhanced Care, Kenwood Drive, Sydney River, N.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2008, Rita Helen Dean in her 99th year. Born in Port aux Basques, N.L., June 7, 1909, she was the daughter of the late Arthur George and Sarah Ellen (Lomond) Farrell. Rita was predeceased by her husband, Edward Maxwell Dean (1979) of Sydney, and four brothers and a sister of Port aux Basques, N.L., Thomas (1993), Russell (1997), Albert (1997) and Bradley Farrell (2004) and sister, Melida Bragg (2004). Rita is survived by her youngest brother, John Farrell, 87; and by many nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, relatives and friends, who mourn her loss and by special friend, Ron Lother of Sydney, whose late mother was a very early and dear friend of Rita. In 1925, at the age of 16, Rita left Port aux Basques, N.L.., courageously gaining passage alone on the SS Kyle ferry to North Sydney, N.S., Canada, a separate country at that time. A harbour shuttle, Job Dobson's Little Mary, running a North Sydney-Westmount-Sydney route, took her to Sydney for 15 cents, where she became employed at the Canada Customs Office at 535 Charlotte St. She met and married Max Dean in 1934, whose father had emigrated from Fogo, N.L., in 1896 to Henry Street, Whitney Pier, her home for nearly 50 years. After his death, Rita preferred independence in apartments until finally becoming a notable and creative icon of Harbourstone in 2005. Rita has served as a well-known, longtime volunteer worker and organizer in Sydney, particularly for hospital funding campaigns, which raised several hundreds of thousands of dollars for building, maintenance and equipment and to which she contributed her own work in related craft sales. Rita's organizational skills also extended to travel and many excursions for Club 55 seniors down the U.S.A. eastern seaboard were planned, carried out and accompanied by her in the 1950s and 1960s. In her own words . . . "Lord keep me working, keep me fit. At windows I do not want to sit watching my friends, hurrying by. Let me stay busy 'til I die Grant me strength and breath and will some useful job in life to fill a need to serve, a task to do. Let me each morning rise anew eager and glad that I can bear my portion of the morning's care. Lord I do not want to sit about broken and worn and all tired out afraid of rain and wind and cold. Let me stay busy when I am old. Although I walk at a slower pace, still let me meet life face to face. This is my prayer as time goes by: Lord keep me busy 'til I die." - Rita Dean, 1979 Visitation will take place from Sydney Memorial Chapel, Welton Street, Sydney, Saturday, Dec. 20, from 2-4 p.m. Funeral services are withheld upon Rita's expressed request. Private interment will take place at Forest Haven Memorial Gardens, Monday, Dec. 22 at 11 a.m. Condolences may be addressed to 375 Carleton Rd., Lawrencetown, B0S 1M0, or to sydneymemorialchapel@ns.sympatico.ca for inclusion in a Book of Remembrance and later recognition by mail and e-mail. "Requiescat in pace, Rita."
