Rita Kathleen Allspaw

Rita Kathleen Allspaw, 83, of Fishers, IN, passed away peacefully Friday afternoon at her home with family by her side. Rita was born March 31, 1936 in Phillipsburg, New Jersey to Rose and Andrew Tarpey. Rita was the youngest in her family, with two brothers and two sisters. Rita was a devoted member of the St. Lawrence community, volunteering regularly at the school while all six children were students, doing everything from recess duty to helping in the cafeteria. She continued to support the church through multiple ministries for the rest of her life and was a fixture at Friday Adoration and Sunday service with her husband Carl. Rita will always be remembered as a wonderful mother and grandmother. She was incredibly nurturing and loving, with the rare ability to always know how to solve a problem, and find the silver lining in any situation, always drawing on her deep faith to provide perspective and hope. Everyone just felt better after talking with Rita.

Rita is survived by six children; Christine Jackson (Stan), Kathleen, Carl (Brenda), Steven, David (Bethany) and Daniel (Katie) and ten grandchildren; Cassie Gavioli (Wayne), David, Emily, Andrew, Julianne, Brian, Chloe, Benjamin, Adam and Samuel.

Rita’s husband of 62 years passed away in December 2019. Carl and Rita were blessed with a full life and a very active retirement with plenty of travel and time spent with family.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11am on Friday, February 28, 2020 at St. Lawrence Catholic Church, 4650 N. Shadeland Avenue, with visitation starting at 9:30am.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Autism Society of Indiana, an organization very dear to Rita (autismsocietyofindiana.org).