Rita Hretsina

Passed away peacefully at the Ballycliffe Long Term Care Nursing Home in Ajax, Ontario on Thursday, April 22, 2021 in her 97th year. Beloved wife of the late George Hretsina; loving mother to David, Gary, Denise (Iain Sweeney), Craig and Keith. She will be truly missed by her grandchildren; Sherri (Jagger), Michelle (Max), Andrew (Dilek), Brian and Mark (Suzette). Cherished great-grandmother to; Miles, Hazel and Collin.

Rita was predeceased by her parents; Alfred and Marie Bridgeman and her siblings; Marcelle, Eric, Armand and Joan. She will be fondly remembered by her sister Rosemarie Farmer, her nieces, nephews, family, friends and all the nurses and personal support workers that have been there for mom during her final years.

Rita was born in the Birch Cliff area of Scarborough where, after grade school, she attended Scarborough Collegiate, now known as R.H. King Academy. She then went on to work at the Banting Institute in Toronto.

Rita loved the Toronto Maple Leaf’s and would take a streetcar to Maple Leaf Gardens every Saturday night to watch the game. It was there that she met George and later, they were married. Rita and George raised their family in Scarborough before moving to Bracebridge. The passing of George, prompted Rita to make the move to Whitby, Ontario to be closer to her children, before the eventual and final move to Ballycliffe Long Term Care.

A service in Celebration of the Life of Rita will be held on Saturday, May 1, 2021 at 1 p.m. in the chapel of the Reynolds Funeral Home.

Due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, there is a limitation in numbers of attendees and for this reason is reserved for immediate family. There will be a livestream of the funeral service through Forget Me Not Ceremonies for those unable to attend in person. Registration is required and can be done by clicking the green 'click here to access video' tab below the obituary. We recommend logging on 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the service to avoid any technical error. A recording of the service will be available afterwards by using the same link.

For those who wish, and in lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer’s Society https://alzheimer.ca/ or a charity of your choice would be most appreciated.