Margarette "Rita" Wristen

1944 - 2019

Margarette "Rita" Wristen 1944 - 2019 Rita Wristen, 75, passed away peacefully Monday, March 18, 2019. Born to Wayne and Florence Vandever in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 25, 1944, the family later moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where Rita was raised. Rita graduated from Southwest High School in 1962 and attended the University of Kansas where she earned a Bachelors of Education in 1966. While taking a summer class at Kansas City Junior College, Rita found herself seated directly in front of David Wristen who had instantly fallen in love with her. After a long-distance courtship, her at KU and he at the Missouri School of Mines in Rolla, they married on July 27, 1968, at Visitation Catholic Church, eight days after David had received his officer's commission in the Navy. The newlyweds headed to Virginia for David's first duty assignment. Rita enjoyed work as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher, first in Kansas and then in Virginia, while David was in the Navy. When David's Navy service concluded, the couple moved to Kansas, bought their first home in Fairway, and Rita became a full-time mother with the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth. The young family later moved to Leawood where they would live in the same house for the next 40 years. Shortly thereafter they welcomed a son, Christopher. A devoted mother and wife, Rita was the cookie sales coordinator for her daughter's Girl Scout troop, a Den Mother for Cub Scout Pack 3395, and the driving force behind her son achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. Having traveled across Europe at the age of 18, Rita was imbued with an appreciation for history and cross-cultural experiences. She was determined to share this value with her children and organized family vacations that took her children to Mexico, 11 European countries, and across the United States from historical sites in Boston and Colonial Williamsburg, to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, to the beaches of San Diego and Florida. She was also a student of her own family's history as an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Later in life, Rita was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. Though the disease would steadily affect her memory, her loving and peaceful spirit remained vibrant and felt by all in her presence. Not spared from Alzheimer's were her father and mother, both of whom Rita had spent a decade caring for, and her sister. Rita willingly participated in one of the many drug trials through the University of Kansas for a year and a half, wishing to make whatever contribution she could to any discovery that might lead to a cure. As a final act of love, Rita participated in the KU Alzheimer's Disease Center Brain Donation Program to allow KU to culminate its years of evaluation on her with the findings from the donation. Rita is survived by her husband of 50 years, David; her daughter, Elizabeth (Craig) Wakeman, and grandchildren Luke, Emerson and Georgia; her son, Christopher (Alexandra Brinkert) Wristen; and her sister, Sylvia (Ken) Scherrer. A Mass of Christian Burial will be delayed until Friday, April 26, at Cure' of Ars Catholic Church, 94th and Mission Road, Leawood, Kansas. Visitation will begin at 9:30 a.m. with Mass following at 10:30 a.m. Because of the effects of Alzheimer's on Rita's family and the importance of the work being done at KU, the family requests that for those wishing to make a memorial donation in Rita's name that they consider doing so in lieu of flowers to: KU Endowment-Alzheimer's Disease Center (09547) and mail to : KU Endowment c/o Lindsay Hummer, mailstop 3012 3901 Rainbow Blvd. Kansas City, Kansas 66160 The family also wishes to thank the staff at SeniorCare Homes and Garden Terrace of Overland Park for their devoted and loving care of Rita. We could not have found better care and we are forever grateful.,