Rita Marie Garrett

Rita Marie Garrett died July 16, 2024. She was born May 1, 1938, in Garnett, Kansas to Clarence Frederick Coppenbarger and Marie Emma (Bowman) Coppenbarger. Rita attended Holy Angels Catholic Grade School and graduated from Garnett High School in 1956. She worked in Topeka, Kansas at the State Services for the Blind, the Kansas Nursing Home Magazine and the Children’s Services of The Menninger Foundation. Rita met and married James D. Garrett of Madison Kansas while she worked at The Menninger Foundation and attended Washburn University. Jim and Rita moved to Grand Junction, Colorado in 1973 when he was discharged from the Marine Corp. Rita was a homemaker and a full-time mother and helped with volunteer projects at her children's schools. She worked at the Counseling and Education Center from 1986 to 2001, when she retired. Rita was preceded in death by her husband on October 24, 2010. She is survived by a daughter, Debbie Twitchell (Michael); a son, James Garrett of Grand Junction; 4 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Fred Coppenbarger (Sharon) of Wichita, Kansas, and Joe Coppenbarger of Las Vegas, Nevada; two nieces; and two nephews. Cremation has taken place. Rita will be inurned beside her husband at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Grand Junction, Colorado. Martin Mortuary is in charge of private services.