Rita M. Redding

Rita M. Redding
Member of well known Greater Lowell family

LOWELL -- Rita M. (O'Callaghan) Redding, a lifelong resident of Lowell, died Monday January 23, 2012 at the age of 86.

She was the beloved wife of the late Robert A. Redding, Sr. for 49 years who died February 29, 2000.

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of the late Patrick and the late Bridget (Hyde) O'Callaghan, she attended St. Patrick's School in Lowell and graduated from St. Patrick's High School in 1942.

Following high school, she graduated from the Fay School in Boston. During World War II, she worked as a civilian clerk at Fort Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts.

A communicant at the Immaculate Conception Church for over sixty years, she was also a member of the Guild of the Infant Savior and the Holy Rosary Sodality.

She also served as a volunteer at St John's Hospital (now known as Saints Medical) and at the Peter W. Reilly School.

A devoted mother she is survived by her three children: Robert A. Redding Jr. and his wife Susan of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Mary Ellen (Redding) Fulton and her husband Stephen of Natick, Massachusetts, and David J. Redding and Ellen Frost of Clinton, Massachusetts. She is also survived by her two grandchildren, Elizabeth O'Callaghan Fulton of Brooklyn, New York, Craig C. Fulton of Natick, Massachusetts, and her devoted cousin, Catherine Spillane of North Haven, Connecticut.

REDDING -- In Lowell, Massachusetts, January 23, 2012, at home, Rita M. (O'Callaghan) Redding, wife of the late Robert A. Redding, Sr. Relatives and friends are invited to attend her Funeral Mass to be celebrated Friday morning at the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CHURCH (Lower Church)in Lowell at 10 o'clock. Burial at St. Mary Cemetery in Tewksbury. Those wishing may make contributions in her memory to: the Boston College General Scholarship Fund, Office of University Advancement, Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467. E-condolences/directions at odonnellfuneralhome.com. Arrangements by the O'DONNELL FUNERAL HOME -- Lowell (978 or 866)458-8768.