Rita Mansfield

1922 - 2010

Rita Mansfield passed away November 6, 2010, at age 88. She was a forty-seven-year resident of Redondo Beach and widow of Dr. Henry Mansfield, Jr., Dean Emeritus of El Camino College. Rita was born on March 13, 1922 in South Pasadena, California and was a life-time resident of Southern California. She graduated from South Pasadena High School and Pomona College. She met Hank while at Pomona College and they married soon after the start of WWII. After all of her children were in school, she served as librarian at Tulita Elementary in Redondo Beach. After retirement, Rita and Hank bought an RV and traveled to all 50 states, all of Canada except Newfoundland, and much of Mexico. She was active in two camping clubs and her interests included nature, camping, fishing, gardening and volunteer ministries at St. Lawrence Martyr Church. She had a beautiful rose garden. Rita leaves seven children: Henry Mansfield III of Redondo Beach, Rod Mansfield of Hawthorne, Betty Barch of Manhattan Beach, Patricia Oishi of Anaheim, Irene Quinlan of Amherst, NH, Richard Mansfield of Tucson, AZ and Suzanne Stuckey of Redondo Beach. She also leaves eleven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She was a loving wife and a devoted mother. She was a rare jewel of a woman. Memorial services will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at St. Lawrence Martyr Church, located at 1900 Prospect Ave., in Redondo Beach. A reception will follow in the church hall. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be sent to either of her two treasured charities: 1) El Camino College Foundation, Dr. Henry Mansfield, Jr. Memorial Scholarship, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd., Torrance, CA 90506; or 2) St. Joseph's Indian School, www.stjo.org. Please sign the guestbook at www.dailybreeze.com/obits. Please go to the mortuary's website, www.LAfuneral.com to send the family messages and to share memories.