Mary Rita Coupe, 89, Atchison, Kansas died Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at Atchison Medicalodge Nursing Center.

Mass of Christian burial will be Friday December 27, 2019 at 10:30 A.M. at St. Benedict Church. Parish rosary will be recited Friday, at 9:30 A.M. with visitation to follow until 10:30 at the church. Interment will be in St. Ann’s Cemetery, Effingham, Kansas. Memorial contribution are suggested to St. Benedict Parish, St. Ann’s Cemetery or Maur Hill-Mt. Academy and may be left in care of the Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home with whom care has been entrusted.

Rita was born at home in Rulo, Nebraska, on January 6, 1930, the youngest daughter of James M. Coupe, Sr. and Loretto C. (Sullivan) Coupe. After the Coupe family moved to Atchison in 1935, Rita attended local Catholic elementary schools. She graduated in 1947 from Mount St. Scholastica Academy and received her A. B. degree cum laude in 1951, from Mount St. Scholastica College (now Benedictine College).

A professional secretary, Rita worked briefly at the former Snowden-Mize Drug Company and then for nearly sixteen years at the former Commerce Acceptance Company. In 1968 she began commuting for twenty years to Kansas City, Missouri for various secretarial positions at Trans World Airlines, retiring in August, 1988.

After retirement, Rita volunteered for several years at Mount St. Scholastica Academy, the Atchison Public Library, and the monastic library of Mount St. Scholastica. She was a member of St. Benedict Parish where at various time she served as a cantor and a commentator; she also volunteered at the Atchison County Historical Society; Friends of the Atchison Library; charter member of the World War II Memorial Society; AARP; and Kappa Gamma Pi. A former active golfer, she was an avid reader and crossword puzzle solver. She was proud of her Irish heritage and especially loved her faith, family, and friends.

She is preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, James M. Coupe, Jr., and John J. Coupe; and a sister, Patricia A. Coupe.

Rita is survived by a sister-in-law, Isabelle C. Coupe, and fourteen nieces and nephews and their families.