Rita Arlene Ormsby

Rita Arlene Ormsby, age 97, of Northville, Michigan, passed away on Thursday, November 23, 2023 at 9:18 a.m., in her home surrounded by her family.  Rita was born on October 10, 1926 in Rome, New York.  She graduated from St. Joseph School of Nursing in Kokomo, Indiana and married Charles T. “Pat” Ormsby on September 11, 1951.  They loved and supported each other for 48 years, moved to six different cities within the span of 15 years, finally settling in South Bend, Indiana.  They traveled all over the country, with her always saying they saw every place they wanted to see and did everything they wanted to do until his death in 1998.  Her nursing career spanned over 20 years in hospitals, doctors' offices, an industrial clinic, a school for the blind and private duty nursing.  She relocated to Michigan where she lived for the past 25 years enjoying her family and visits up north with her daughter.  She lived a full life, with her Catholic faith being at the core of her existence.  She was a strong, spunky, fun-loving woman who enjoyed golf, restaurants, movies, keeping up with the latest fashion trends, playing cards, doing word searches, reading and music.

She was preceded in death by her parents Arnold B. and Gretta I. (Barrett) Carter and nine siblings, Constance Gartland, Vera Lanning, Sarah Roberts, Gretta Cummings (her fraternal twin), Anne Dailey, Arnold John Carter, John “Jack” Carter, Patricia Ervin and Wesley Carter and a granddaughter Annie Simon.  

She is survived by her daughters Karen Colleen Stahl (Rick) and Rita Marie Ormsby-Simon (Ken) as well as 8 grandchildren, Charles T. “Pat” Stahl (Cheryl Kessler), Daniel (Kelly) Stahl, Richard Stahl, Sarah Walsh, Elizabeth (Jesus) Espinoza, Lindsey Westra, Karen (Zvonko) Milosevski and fourteen great-grandchildren, Jordan and Katelynn Stahl ,Myah Stahl, Grace, Noel and Colt Walsh, Kelcey, Alysia, Damian and Cayden Espinoza, Carter and Lila Westra, Roman and Landon Milosevski.

A private funeral mass will be celebrated at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield with entombment to follow. Arrangements entrusted to the Schrader-Howell Funeral Home, Plymouth.