Rita Vincent

1930 - 2023

Rita Vincent
May 4, 1930 - July 13, 2023
Tacoma, Washington - Janie Vincent passed away on July 13, 2023 after an extended illness. Janie had the courage of a creative spirit, which she expressed through her engaging intellect and artistic pursuits.
Rita Janine Eklund was born on May 4, 1930 in Butte, MT to Melvin John and Marguerite Eklund nee Hall. Her father's work in sales at Shell Oil moved them around the Northwest to Spokane, Portland, Bellingham and Seattle, until they arrived in Tacoma in the early '40s. Janie attended Mason Junior High School, where she made some of her most enduring friendships. Many of these friends who later settled in Tacoma to raise their families formed the "Sewing Circle," which met monthly to share their joys and challenges. These "aunts" included Evie Katich, Ginger Appello, Barbara Ancich, Barbara Aspen and Rosemary Politeo.
After graduating from Stadium High School in 1947, Janie attended the University of Washington. In her senior year she was president of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.S. in Psychology.
After college, Janie worked as an administrative secretary at Frederick & Nelson Department Store in Seattle. It was during that time that she met Rowland Charles "Vince" Vincent, a World War II veteran from Wisconsin who was employed as an economic analyst for Weyerhaeuser Corporation. They married in 1955, and soon after she returned with him to Tacoma, where they raised six children together: Charles Edward "Chip" (Carla), Marguerite Kendrick "Maggie" (David Roller), John Eklund, Alice Corbett (Randall Lauffer), Elizabeth Tyrrell "Betsy," and David Rowland (Alexandra).
Their brown four-square on North "C" Street was a noisy hub of activity, filled with music, friends and many beloved pets. There were neighborhood touch-football games in the street and pickleball tournaments in the back yard, weekend marathon "Hearts" card games and large holiday parties. And there was always a full house for Saturday night hamburgers with homemade buns and hot fudge sundaes.
Janie channeled her creativity into many endeavors: French cooking, painting and gardening, among them. Through her volunteer work with Junior League in the '60s and '70s she developed and taught an arts program, Children's Art Workshop, to train volunteers to teach art in the Tacoma Public Schools. In the early '70s her interest in nutrition spawned a passion for organic foods. Despite misfires, such as passing off carob as chocolate, her children were the willing subjects of her experiments with "whole" foods. In the late '70s she created a line of whole-grain organic mixes, "Janie's Magic Muffins," which sold in several local retail outlets in the early '80s.
In the mid-'80s, after Vince retired from Weyerhaeuser, they moved full-time to their beach place on Case Inlet, where they gardened, swam and hosted their friends and family, which eventually expanded to include 14 grandchildren. For several years in the early '90s, Janie took art classes at Cornish School of the Arts in Seattle and began to focus her time on painting.
After Vince's passing in 2011, Janie moved back to their old neighborhood in Tacoma, where she continued to paint, cook and entertain. She was an avid reader, unflagging storyteller and devoted friend to her doggy companion, Fiona.
The family extends our gratitude to Dr. Iandine Paras and his staff at Virginia Mason-Franciscan Gig Harbor Clinic for their years of attentive treatment of our mother, and to Multicare Hospice Services for their compassionate care in her final days. No services will be held. Contributions may be made to St. Leo Food Connection.