Obituary of Rita Vollenweider

Vollenweider, Rita Egan MacInnis passed away on November 1, 2009 in the loving arms of her 2 sons Darren and Graham in Newport Beach, California. Born in Brooklyn, NY the daughter of John and Josephine Egan, Rita graduated from Fontbonne Hall Academy in Bay Ridge before attending St Johns University. After college, Rita became one of the top models at the Ford Modeling Agency in New York City. During the 1950's and 60's Rita was frequently featured on the covers and within the pages of the top fashion magazines such as "Mademoiselle", "Seventeen" and many of the popular "Bride" magazines. Rita married United States Marine Corps lieutenant Donald MacInnis in 1956 and they eventually settled in Franklin Lakes. In addition to her 2 sons, Rita had 2 beautiful daughters, Shawn and Bryn. After Donald's sudden passing, Rita returned to work and began a nearly 20 year successful career in advertising with IBM where she rose through the ranks of management. An avid tennis player, Rita met her current husband John on the tennis court. They were married in 1984 and retired to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina in 1994 where they enjoyed tennis, golf, gardening and volunteering with their favorite charities. Her happiest times were spent teaching the grandchildren how to read, swim or bike. Rita is survived by her loving husband John, her 4 children, Darren MacInnis, Graham MacInnis and Shawn MacInnis of Los Angeles and Bryn Briscuso of Bethesda, MD, her brothers John Egan of Mahwah, NJ and Tom Egan of Aiken S.C., 5 grand children, (Nicole, Ray, Brooke, Grace and Jack) 7nieces, 2 nephews and her closest and dearest friend, Jessie MacInnis of Brooklyn NY. Family and friends will be received from 7pm -9pm on Friday November 6th at the Vander Plaat Funeral Home (www.vpfh.com) located at 257 Godwin Ave, Wyckoff, N.J. Funeral Mass at 10 AM on Saturday November 7th at St. Elizabeth's R.C. Church, 700 Wyckoff Ave., Wyckoff. All who knew and loved Rita are invited to attend and celebrate her life.