Rita D'Arcangelis

Rita Theresa Marcellino D’Arcangelis, passed away Tuesday, the 15th of February, at 9:24 AM of natural causes --peacefully and without pain, under the care of her younger son Gabriel-- in her home in Long Beach, MS, at the age of 80.

She was preceded by her parents Frank and Rita Marcellino, and her two younger sisters Regina Marcellino Mulligan and Roseanne Marcellino Flint, many years ago, and her husband Sam D’Arcangelis, who passed away almost 15 years ago at the age of 70.

She is survived by her elder son Samuel, 55, her younger son Gabriel, 53, her daughter-in-law Alexandra, 55, her grandchildren Catherine and Caroline, ages 18 and 15, respectively, three sisters-in-law, Angela D’Arcangelis Morra, Olga Crastina D’Arcangelis, Rosemarie Herold D’Arcangelis, contemporary cousins Helen Warren, Colin Parker, Taya Kardash, Joanna Jenks, and a large host of cousins, nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews and other relatives on the Marcellino, Finnessey, Lupo and D’Arcangelis lines of our family.

We commend her soul to our Lord, Almighty God, and to the Glorious Virgin Mary, and to our lord Saint Michael, and to all the blessed Angels and Saints, male and female, in Paradise.

She was a beloved mother and wife, and pillar of our family.  She was an academician of the highest order starting with becoming valedictorian of her class in 1959 in Fort Plain, NY.  On that basis, she was awarded a full scholarship to SUNY Albany, where she majored in Mathematics, with a Latin minor, culminating in attaining her Master’s Degree in Mathematics, with her thesis focusing on aspects of Galois Theory.

Throughout her career she taught many classes in various mathematical fields at the high school level up through the university level, as teacher or substitute teacher, starting in the Albany, NY area later in Granbury TX, and then finally as a Professor of Computer Science, in Fredricksburg, VA.

She became fascinated with computer science while raising her children to adolescence in Granbury, TX, and attended TarletonState University in Stephenville, TX, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, as a relatively rare example of a woman in the field of computer science at that time.  She then continued her education at that University of Texas at Arlington, TX, where she defended her doctoral thesis in Computer Science at the age of 48.

That scholarship led her to her last career move to Fredricksburg, VA, where she instructed in several languages in computer science and University of Mary Washington (formerly Mary Washington College) until her retirement in 2008, the year after her husband Sam passed.

When coming to Virginia, she gained a fascination and deep thirst for knowledge concerning American Civil War History.  This led her to build a comprehensive genealogy of our own family which will continue to build.  For many years, she was a member and a chapter President of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was also a member Colonial Dames of America, among other organizations.  She spent the rest of her life enjoying life, and living independently in a duplex, across from my brother in Long Beach, MS, often doing volunteer / charity work, helping senior citizens with free tax filing services.  She was the chief genealogist of the family whose greatest work we shall see completed in due course.

Rita D’Arcangelis was an exceptional woman in every aspect of her life and our lives, and will be sorely missed dearly by 1000 souls until our arrival in the light of Heaven someday.

The Riemann Family Funeral Home, Long Beach, MS, is serving the family and online condolences may be offered at www.riemannfamily.com