Rita Mary Smith was born February 18, 1955 in Wenatchee, WA to parents Herbert and Rose Mary (Brenner) Smith of Trinidad, WA. Rita was the third of four children and grew up in Quincy, WA.

She graduated from Quincy High School and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in public recreation from Western Washington University.

Her first job after college was working for the Youth Conservation Corps, where she experienced hiking and working on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains. Rita later earned her Master’s Degree in Special Education from Central Washington University. She taught in Pocatello, ID, then in Sumner, WA, and finished her career at the Lake Washington School District in Kirkland, WA.

She began as a Behavior Specialist, joined the Career and Technical Education department as a Transition Specialist, and then became a Program Specialist. Rita was passionate about career and technical education and creating job opportunities for high school students in the Kirkland and Redmond communities. The “Rita Smith Founder Award” was instituted for her creation of Teen CEO; a competition for her students based on “Shark Tank®”, involving local business leaders and venture capitalists, complete with cash awards for the winners. She touched the lives of thousands of students and staff and built strong relationships both in the district and in the community.

Rita enjoyed a life-long love of swimming and water sports, which led to her first job of lifeguarding and teaching swimming lessons at the Quincy Community Pool. She particularly liked river floating with her Youth Conservation Corps friends, and spending part of each summer at Lake Chelan.

She also enjoyed traveling both for work and pleasure. After being diagnosed twelve years ago, Rita became active in the fight against ovarian cancer. She raised approximately $60,000 for ovarian cancer research through over 150 baskets she organized for the Marsha Rivkin Ovarian Cancer Auction each fall for 11 years. She received the “Courage of Life” award for fight against cancer and related contributions to research and assisting others in coping with and fighting cancer, in a special tribute at the Rivkin auction last November.

Rita leaves behind two sisters and one brother: Barbara Hairston (James) of Lakewood, Peggy White (Ed) of Seattle, and Mike Smith (Sonia) of Shoreline. She also leaves behind four nieces and three nephews; two great-nieces; and o great-nephews; as well as countless life-long friends.

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