Rita Barror Rossi
1927-2024
Our devoted mother, Rita B. Rossi died November 2, 2024 in Santa Barbara, CA where she had lived in Valle Verde Retirement Community since 2015. She was born Rita Lillian Barror on June 9, 1927 to Joseph Henzie (Henze) Barror and Emily Mae Snide, the fifth of six children. Her father and his sister, Rose, were orphaned as young children in New York City, but luckily they were Fresh Air Children hosted by the Barror family during successive summers in Mooers Forks, NY. Their loving host family maneuvered a legal adoption of both children instead of returning them to the orphanage at the end of the second summer.
Mom was born and raised on the family farm in Mooers Forks, NY just a few miles from the Canadian border. Sadly, her mother died when she was 12 years old, and Mom was devastated by the loss. Her father arranged for her to attend the D’Youville Academy in Plattsburg, NY. She boarded in the convent, and the nuns provided the emotional support she needed. The following year, her older sister, Norma, joined her at the academy after feeling left behind. In her senior year of high school, they no longer allowed boarders, so she moved to a local boarding house and worked there to cover the cost.
Upon graduation, she moved to Williamstown, MA where she lived with her Uncle Art Snide and started a long career working for various telephone companies across the country. She met and married Francis “Whip” Perry in Williamstown, and had two daughters, Jeanne Ellen and Micheline Marie. While the girls were young she moved to California and later married Joseph Howard Walden, III and had another daughter, Sarah Mae.
Traveling was in her blood, and in the early days that meant camping. Her mother read from a gifted encyclopedia about redwood trees, and from then on she was set on seeing them in California. While Mom was always a wonderful cook, she was a master of cooking full meals on a Coleman stove. When her youngest was just an infant, her family of five embarked on an adventure from California to Alaska, camping the entire way. While she immediately found employment in Anchorage, Joe did not. After six months, they left Alaska for family visits in Massachusetts and New York, finally returning to California where they settled in Santa Barbara. Later in life she enjoyed traveling North America with her children, grandchildren and adventuresome friends. She climbed Half Dome in Yosemite in her 70’s and hiked in Arches National Park at 88.
Her entire life, Mom was the primary breadwinner, working overtime whenever it was available to give her family as much as she could. Yet, she found time to be a Girl Scout leader and make items for school fundraisers. She was a skilled seamstress, making most of our clothing as small children, Jeanne’s wedding dress and five bridal party dresses, all on a Singer sewing machine that only sewed a straight stitch in one direction. She started making her first quilt before her first marriage, and never to leave a task unfinished, she completed it fifty years later. The work of art was given to her oldest granddaughter. Reupholstering furniture or refinishing hardwood floors by hand, if something needed doing, she did it and did it well.
Growing her own flowers, fruits and vegetables and sharing them with others was a regular pastime. She was always on the lookout for an apricot tree with ripe fruit. She did not hesitate to knock on a stranger’s door to ask if they would mind her picking some. Most people were happy to see their fruit going to good use.
Mom never hesitated to help someone in need, whether that was offering them a roof over their heads, regular rides to chemotherapy treatments or helping a blind neighbor write checks to pay bills. Other neighbors did the same for her, helping with tasks around the house that she could not manage. She often showed her appreciation with a homemade pie.
After years of friendship beginning at St. Patrick’s Church in Arroyo Grande, CA, Mom married Guy Rossi when they were 78 and 88 respectively. He was a kind gentleman, and their five year marriage enriched Mom’s life before his passing.
Mom is survived by her daughters: Jeanne Bret (James) of Flagstaff, AZ, Micheline Perry of Florence, OR, and Sarah Griffin (Scott) of Santa Barbara, CA. She is also survived by five grandchildren: Kelly Almeroth (Kevin), Stacy Carone (Marc), Dylan Griffin, Michael Vallone (Deanna), Paul Vallone, and seven great grandchildren: Iris, James, Bret and Nicole Carone; Casey and Abby Almeroth; and Sienna, Easton and Finley Vallone.
A Funeral Mass will be held on January 4, 2025 in Santa Barbara. Email RBR93105@gmail.com for further details. Internment will be later in the year in the Barror family plot in St. Ann’s Cemetery in Mooers Forks, NY. Donations in memory of Rita Rossi may be made to The Scholarship Foundation – Valle Verde Fund.