Rita Joan Elder

Rita Joan Elder

1936 – 2021

Rita Joan Elder went to be with the Lord on Saturday the 25^th of December 2021.  She loved the Lord.  She enjoyed meeting new people and making lifelong friends.  She was a free spirit who enjoyed life and lived it her way.

She was born in Worthington, Indiana on July 7, 1936 to Walter and Edith Blevins.  Rita had two brothers, William Blevins and Robert Blevins.

Rita was predeceased by her parents and siblings. She is survived by her sons, Richard Elder and Douglas Elder; two grandchildren; and one great grandson.

Visitation will be at the Legacy Cremation & Funeral Services-Inpls, (the old Flanner and Buchannan Funeral Home), at 1604 West Morris Street, Indianapolis, Indiana at 10AM on Thursday, December 30, 2021 followed by a Celebration of Life service at 11:30AM. Pastor Marc Hayden of Friedens United Church of Christ will officiate.

Rita was born on a farm near Worthington, Indiana, and had two older brothers.  When the farm fell on hard times, her parents moved to find work, and she lived with her grandparents until about the second grade when she got sick and moved to Indianapolis with her parents and brothers.  She graduated from high school and soon thereafter met her future husband while working at the library.  They were married at the beginning of his Airforce career and their boys were born in Texas and Kansas.  The Airforce career ended in South Carolina where the boys graduated from high school and moved on.  She and her husband went their separate ways and she ended up back in Indianapolis.

Faith – In her words, “All my life I have known my God.”  Rita started attending church when she was 8 or 9 years old and joined the West Morris St Christian Church when she was 12 even though her family did not attend initially.  She was active in inviting and bringing people to revivals and other church functions.  She stayed a faithful member of many different churches as she moved through life.  She died very early Christmas morning, and spent her Christmas at the feet of Jesus.

Making friends – Rita loved to meet new people and had many friends that she kept in touch with through letters and phone calls.  She maintained lifelong connections with some from her early days as an Airforce spouse.  She was never shy about starting a conversation or saying hello to her next new friend. At various times, she was active in her churches. She also volunteered to work with patients in nursing home memory units. And she enjoyed square dancing and other social activities.  When she was in high school, she got involved in table tennis and won the Indianapolis City Department of Parks tournament in her age group.  Her address book was something else!

Independent – Rita was fiercely independent and talked of the freedom she felt with her first bike and later at age 17 when she got her first car.  Movement was freedom and independence for her and she spent many happy hours cruising around.  One of her early cars was a VW Karman Ghia that she loved, and later in life, a gold dune buggy.  She cherished her independence almost to a fault.  Her independence was really crimped when she had to give up driving – life just wasn’t as good.  On top of that her knees were both replaced (one three times) and her lack of mobility was frustrating to her.

Moving – Rita lived in many different places as an Airforce officer’s wife and kept moving around following that relationship.  She ended back in Indianapolis, living in multiple locations on the southside and ultimately back near her childhood home on the westside of Indianapolis where she purchased her aunt’s house.  When that became too much to keep up with, she moved to various independent living and assisted living apartments before long term care was needed.  This loss of freedom of movement and independence was very hard on her.  Not being able to move about took a toll on her.

Free Spirited – Rita was never one to be called a stick in the mud.  She liked to have fun and enjoyed a good party as much as anyone.  Going out for dinner or having friends around was one of her favorite things to do.  Unfiltered and outgoing was her style.  She lived life her way.