Rita and her family joined St. Francis Xavier Parish in 1994, and she began working at St. Francis Xavier School in 1997. In 2000, Fr. Dick Albarano recruited Rita to serve as Director of Parish Administration for both the church and the school.

Rita holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Religious Studies. She was commissioned as a Pastoral Associate in 2010 and received the Benemerenti Award from Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 in recognition of her dedication to St. Francis Xavier.

In Rita’s family, there is a running joke that everyone—except Rita—has graduated from St. Francis Xavier.