Rita was born on the 24th April 1932, the youngest child of her parents Walter Ellison and Cissy (née Ruddick). She grew up with her older half-sister Jean and brother Alan on the western edges of Carlisle, Cumberland. She was top of all Carlisle in her year for grades on leaving school, and became a Radiographer, the youngest qualified in the role in the country.
In 1950 she started courting Tom Hetherington, and they married four years later, moving to the Brierley Hill area of the West Midlands. Sadly their first child Peter was stillborn in 1956, but in 1959 Janet (who changed her name in later life to Araya, and sadly passed away in 2010), and in 1961 Jill were born. Rita chose not to return to work after 1956, recovering from her illness and then becoming a full time housewife and mother.
In 1989 her only grandchild Jamie, Jill's son arrived on the scene, and this was a great help for her and Tom in coming to terms with their loss over 30 years before. They developed a very close relationship with Jamie who lived with them from 2008 to 2013.
Rita's health slowly declined in later years, but we were all fortunate that it held until the last year of her life. She passed away at home with Tom, Jill, Jamie and Jamie's wife Alice all together under the roof of the home she and Tom had moved into new in 1955.
She and Tom were very hospitable to us trainee teachers. She baked a great cake and always had some available when I visited. She was a homely and nice person and I was saddened to read that Janet (whom I met in 1972) died young. What a terrible loss for them all. I remember her and Yom fondly
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