Rita Anna Maria Martinelli was born in Naples, Italy on October 1,1929. She grew up in Naples with her younger brother Franco and experienced the devastating effects of WWII taking fire from all allied forces as well the Nazis. She was raised by her two aunts (Anna & Antonietta) following her mother’s death (Giuseppina) in 1943 at the age of 38, Rita was only 14. She started working at 17 in a secretarial pool and then worked as a legal aid before finally working for Ford Motor Company. She met Joseph L. Wright Jr. in 1961 at the age of 32. They were married November 5, 1962 and moved to Patuxent River, MD in 1964. Their first daughter, Anna Lucia was born on December 25, 1965. From there they got stationed in Portsmouth, VA where their second daughter, Linda Rita was born on August 2, 1967. They moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 and shortly after moved back to Naples, Italy where Joe retired from the Navy after 30 years. They enjoyed the Italian “dolce vita” until 1980 when they moved back to America and Joe’s hometown of Cashiers, NC.
Rita and Joe lived in Cashiers raising their two daughters who both attended Blue Ridge School and Western Carolina University. Joe passed away unexpectedly in April of 1996. Rita continued to live in Cashiers through October 2000 when she decided she wanted to be closer to her children. She moved to Chesapeake, VA where she lived near Anna and her family until June 2011. When Anna received orders to California, she chose to move with her and enjoyed Southern California living to its fullest - she played bingo, took walks outside, cheered on her grandkids, and loved gameshow network, food network, tennis channel, Italian music and of course, Elvis Presley.
Unfortunately, Rita began suffering from dementia in 2013 and had a gradual decline until 2018 where the disease began to progress more rapidly. Rita moved 3 times from 2018 to 2021 requiring increasing levels of care. First independent living with some assistance and progressing to a memory care unit. Due to the COVID Pandemic, we were unable to see her in person from March 2020 until June 2020 when she fell and broke her hip; following her surgery, she rehabilitated with Anna and her family until she was ready to go back into a small care facility in October 2020.
Rita acquired COVID-19 on January 24th and passed away from complications of the virus. She leaves behind Anna, her husband Hampton, Grace (27), Karlie (26), Hampton IV (20), and Joe (18). Linda, her boyfriend Lionel, Gisele (20) and Gareth (20). Her brother, Franco and 4 nieces and nephews (Franco, Nuccia, Marina, Marco). Her brother-in-law, Keith Wright (Sissy and Keith Andrew and her two nephews (Thomas Wright) Mike and Lawrence Wright.
Rita was a beautiful soul and a proud American Citizen. She had a loving and generous heart and loved to feed people. She had a gift for telling stories of her childhood in Italy and the trials of World War II. You would never leave her house hungry- she wanted everyone to “mangia” (eat). She had a passion for cooking and her daughters have inherited that love as well. She had an amazing green thumb and all plants thrived under her care. She gifted us with many beautiful crochet blankets and her love of Italian music. We have many fond memories of Rita which will stay in our hearts forever.