My condolences to all the family members and friends impacted by the passing of Barbara Rizzo. There are a bunch of us. And to the immediate family members who lost your mom, please know, you did a marvelous job of taking care of your mother until the end. You faced the dying process with love, caring, dedication and devotion. You did right by her! I can’t stress this enough. It can be wearing to watch a loved one decline, as the years get the better of us, and to be with them and help care for them in a loving manner takes great courage and fortitude. Individually and collectively, you were up to this challenge, day after day, year after year. You should take great pride and much solace in your efforts, your actions set the bar high for the rest of us, they were meaningful and important. 

I loved your mom and having her as a mother-in-law was terrific. She was funny and dramatic and engaging and charming. She was an ideal grandmother to my children. She was loving and welcoming to me always. I’m happy that she can now take her place in heaven alongside your Dad, who was as fine a man as I’ve met. I love that my daughter carries on her name. 

And while this is a sad occasion, I’m quite certain that she was and is proud of each one of her children, her grandchildren, her great grandchildren and her living legacy of love.

My Mother was wonderful. She was everything a Mommy should be. She did her very best in raising 8 children. She wasn’t a complainer and only became frustrated or angry with us when we fought or were disrespectful to her, our Dad, each other, or anyone, for that matter. She also loved being a “Granny” and she, along with my Dad taught us how to love babies. She was amazed and proud of how beautiful and kind all her grandchildren were.  She always had great taste and did an amazing job putting herself together, never leaving the house without lipstick.  My Mother taught me how to be loving.  She was a devout Catholic, who taught me how to be a Christian, by her example. Most importantly, she taught me how to pray. I joked with my Mother that when she got to heaven, to come back to tell me all about it.  She  laughed every time I said that.   I love you Mom and will miss you every day for the rest of my life. Until we meet again.❤️

Our parents gave us 2 extraordinary gifts. First was the Redemptorist community and Colman Highlands neighborhood as the playground to grow up in. 
When they bought 3401 Karnes for $15,000 in 1964, I don’t know if they realized they also bought a community of the most loving, caring, supportive, wonderful people. 

As sad as these funeral gatherings have been, the opportunity to reconnect and catch up has been the silver lining.

The second gift our parents gave us was each other. 
The siblings. We have 8. Mom frequently reminded us all, "how lucky we are to have each other". Its true. No one really can make you laugh like a sibling. No one really knows what it was like to grow up with those parents, in that house, at that time. Except the persons who were literally sitting next to you .

Lucky. Blessed. Grateful. 

We are so grateful we had each other sharing the responsibilities of taking care of our parents at the end. 

Thank you mom and dad for our gifts.
We’ve heard wonderful things said our our mother today: Fun, funny, classy, Fashionista and many more, and we couldn’t agree more. 
Love you mommy. 

What a beautiful, happy and adventurous woman!  She loved and enjoyed her family fiercely.  She raised beautiful people for the rest of us to enjoy.  She loved  her travel explorations with the wonder of a child.  Over the many years I’ve known her, every time I saw her she always had a huge smile,  a warm hug, and a funny story to share.   I love that Barbara always had on fresh lipstick.   I will miss her lovely spirit.  We were so lucky to have her in our lives.  

Barbara was the mother in law of my brother, Tom and I thought she was so lovely.  One time, though, she and I were both in the customer service line at the Penney's Outlet and struck up a conversation; each of  us thought we must know each other from somewhere and we tried to figure it out.   Hilarity ensued when we realized where we knew each other from!  A time or two I bumped into her at mass at Redemptorist.  She was a beautiful person and had great kids, too.  I will miss hearing about her.  My condolences to all, especially Donna, Barbara and Tom.
Jeanne Foster

Tony and Family,

I was saddened to see that your mother had passed away.  Although I had infrequent contact with her, I thought of her more often, particularly at  baptisms, First Communions or other sacramental events when godparents are so important in the spiritual life of the recipients.  Simply remembering her added to the importance of those events and, in a sense, she was thereby fulfilling her role as a godparent.

My uncle, Father Frank Burger will remember your mother, my godmother,  Barbara Ann Rizzo today at Mass...as will I.  

David



OBITUARY

Barbara Ann (Grove) Rizzo

23 December, 1926 – 22 January, 2020

McGilley Memorial Chapel-Midtown

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Updates

Services