Rita Jans Kent - Celebration of Life

12/10/2025 12:21:09 am
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2021-09-04 20:48:45
We Remember Aunt Rita

Dear Cousins Patty, Tommy, Colleen, Timmy and MoMo,
     
We remember Aunt Rita, your beloved Mother, because she was the kindest, most helpful, most fun aunt who delighted several generations with her vivid memories of her Jans family childhood and beyond.  Her smile was infectious and, luckily for us, she wore it often!
     
We all remember the wonderful family reunion picnics and we couldn't wait to eat her delicious "Aunt Rita potato salad"!  No one else made it the same way and we knew that the aunts said that you just had to make it with Hellmann's mayonnaise!
     
Also, Aunt Rita's best brunch recipe was her sour cream-filled coffee cake nicknamed "pus cake" by Mike Armgardt.  Aunt Rita really disliked that nicknmae, but the more Mike teasingly worked it into the conversation, the more we giggled hysterically.  The only way to stop it was Aunt Rita threatening Mike with withholding any more pieces.  God forbid, he loved it!
     
We remember Aunt Rita as the "Queen of Jello"!  No holiday meal was complete without a jello creation!  Which was your favorite?  Was it the yellow one with shredded carrots or the green one with pineapple chunks and cottage cheese or the red one with banana slices and maybe more of that sour cream?
     
One year her favorite niece was delighted to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner at the Kents.  So in order to show her appreciation, she started clearing the dining room table, but was frozen in her tracks when dear Aunt Rita nearly killed her for stacking the Belleek plates.  Only Aunt Rita was authorized to handle her fine Irish china!  That was probably true for the Waterford crystal as well!  And, as Patty remembers, her Mom counted the sterling silverware after each time it was used!
     
Coming to the Kent Home was a big treat!  We remember having 4th of July picnics, going to the nearby park, watching parades down Central Street and fireworks at Dyche Stadium or the lake.  (Thanks, Uncle Tommy for taking us out on your boat!)  Aunt Rita continued the tradition set by Grandpa of Christmas parties in the finished basement with all of the little kids and Santa, too!
     
We remember the Kent house with all of the annual family photos in chronological order in the entry!  Aunt Rita must have loved flowers because the bathroom window was filled with shelves of violets.  Another cousin, Janet?, already mentioned the very cool breakfast nook!  (We remember Uncle Tom not wanting to be in the kitchen when the microwave oven was in use.)  The emerald green glass doorknob seemed like something from Oz or Ireland!  That house had cellar doors, too!  The attic was very interesting to us with the ladder that had to be pulled down.  We were amazed when Aunt Rita and Uncle Tom later converted the space into a master bedroom with a telephone in the bathroom!  But mostly we remember the family fun we had there with our dear Aunt Rita, Uncle Tom and Kent cousins!  A special memory is playing "Spoons"!  And there can be no current champion until we all get together again one day, so Tommy Kent, you are not it!
     
Our Aunt Rita was very good at remembering and teling us stories from her childhood days!  One time Rita and her older sisters, Minnie and Dinky, surprise-ambushed their brothers, Bob and Jack, with very ripe tomatoes because the boys had teased the girls just a little too much!  One day at St. A.'s Grade School the teacher was very surprised to hear Rita reading with a German accent!  Her older sisters had to explain to the teacher that Rita had practiced the evening before with their grandfather from Luxembourg!  When they were living in the house on Leonard Place their mother had left to go shopping.  The boys were chasing the girls around the dining room table.  One of the girls escaped to the hall bathroom and the doorknob was broken with too much tugging on it!  There was no way to get her out!  And someone knew that our grandmother was going to be home soon which would be big trouble for them all!  So one of the boys went up on the roof and got into the bathroom through the outside window to open the bathroom door just before their mom walked into the house!  She told us that when Uncle Peter was running for Mayor of Evanston, one of his campaign workers was knocking on doors and came to the house of an old lady who said she would not vote for anyone from the Jans family becasue some of the girls had picked flowers from her yard many, many years ago!

Aunt Rita was with us in the good times and in the sad ones, too.  When our lovely mother lost a baby boy to miscarriage, we call him Robby after our Dad, it was to his beloved sister, Rita, that our dear father turned because little Colette saw him sobbing while she comforted him.

So now we are looking forward to that great Jans Clan Family Reunion in Heaven where we believe that those who know and love Jesus and keep His Commandments will live forever in His Father's Kingdom!

With great love and much affection from your cousins - Maura, Megan, Kevin, Colette, Cecilia, Dennis, Vincent (RIP), Brian, Daniel and Aunt Marguerite, too!

2021-08-30 18:00:51

The Kent family was my other family in high school and beyond, and their bungalow was my other home. It was warm and lively, filled with happy kids and wry-humored adults. Mrs. Kent was its heart.

Cynthia Carson

2021-08-30 15:21:07
Lovely Rita

Aunt Rita. What a kind, caring, fun-loving Aunt. She and my Mom, Aunt Pat, or Pootsie were partners in crime. Aunt Rita and Uncle Tom would welcome us to 4th of July celebrations in Evanston. Seven Doll kids, five Kent's - it was more than a houseful but they always made room for us and we had so much fun. I always loved the nook in the (2534?) Ridgeway house and Aunt Rita made sure it got to me when they remodeled. I know Aunt Rita took in Paula and Barb (troublemakers) for a week when a new baby came along - always willing to help out.

The ski trips to Whitecap were a blast. I think the Aunts loved them most of all; time to be together with sisters - Rita, Pat and Rosie while the husbands and kids were on the slopes. I'm guessing maybe more than a few daiquiris were had while the sisters were chatting. We pretty much rented out the entire Badger motel. We had so much fun together as kids. Mo singing her songs on the chairlift, sharing a double-bunk room with Eileen, Mo, and Pam. Skiing with many cousins o all ages. Patti dressed in our Mom's fur coat skiing and all of us wondering when our Mom learned how to ski. Oranges and chocolate bars for lunch, along with a sandwich of course. I have fond memories of Christmases and going to Mass on frosty winter nights with my cousins, Aunts and Uncles. 

Aunt Rita and Uncle Tom visited Barb in her group home and came to Phil's funeral. Family was so important to Aunt Rita and Uncle Tom and those visits meant so much to our family. 

Thanks for including us as extended family Aunt Rita - and Patti, Tom, Colleen, Tim and Mo. Thanks for all the fun we shared. I will not be able to attend Aunt Rita's life celebration in person but please know she and all of you will always have a special place in my heart. Love and hugs to all of you and your wonderful spouses and families.

Jan (Doll) Brimeyer and Rick Brimeyer

P.S. Loved the trips to Galena too! Game playing (wicked spoons games), hay rides, outdoor fun...

2021-08-26 13:43:10

Hi Kent Family Jans Clan, friends, neighbors etc. 
Sadly the Paul family will not be able to join you physically for the celebration of Aunt Rita’s long and wonderful life. Brother Mike is doing well in his assisted living home. Brother Bob’s Parkinson disease is progressing. His son Adam lives with him so he has maintained his independent condo. Denny and I are still in Oconomowoc and Denny is having surgery on Sept. 2 for a cataract.
My favorite memory of aunt Rita was when I was very young and we still lived at 1211 Leonard Pl. My dad was out of town to do  FBI business so my  mom and aunt Rita decided to wallpaper the kitchen. I’m not sure if they got into the cooking sherry, but there seem to be a lot of laughter involved in wallpapering. And yes, they got the pattern on upside down! 
Of all the Jans girls, aunt Rita along with aunt Jo were forces to be reckoned with because of their strong voices and personalities. It always amazed me that all eight sisters could all be talking at the same time while interjecting in all the various conversations and never miss a beat! Great times, great memories! Love to you all with virtual hugs and kisses, Maureen

2021-08-26 10:59:59

I was always so happy to see Rita, she was a wonderful, gracious, accepting person with a good sense of humor.  I feel lucky and honored to have known her. I am also grateful that she gave life to my terrific brother-in-law.
Shawn O’Connell and family

2021-08-03 11:26:15
Bless you Aunt Rita

In my mind, Aunt Rita was smart, organized, hardlined and softlined, bright-eyed, and carried a great sense of humor. Of course, you had to have all that to keep her crew in line. She raised everyone with care (you listening Uncle Tom) and was always nice to me. I hope I can carry a good attitude as time goes on, just like my Aunt Rita. The rest of us are looking at your pictures and missing you!

Pat & Lisa Kent

2021-06-30 08:37:16

Dearest cousins,
It will be a faith filled celebration of aunt Rita’s life and thank you for including all of us. We loved her and she was always so welcoming and supportive her entire life to each and everyone!  I treasure all the glorious memories of celebrations and ordinary days spent together with the Kent’s! 
John and I regret we are away in CA helping out daughter during early September and will miss her funeral. We will
celebrate her memory in spirit. 
Xoxo Eileen and John

2021-06-30 08:07:14

Aunt Rita was a total babe

Uncle Tom had eyebrows that scared me

love to family

Kent family

terry
kathy
mickey
bobby

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