Helen “Rita” Bass was born February 2, 1932 in Madison Wisconsin to Helen and Ambrose Coughlin, the 6th of 7 children. She passed away on January 6, 2023, with family at her side. Rita had a long and mostly healthy life. She lived through the “Great Depression”, sent two brothers to World War II, who both came back unharmed, and welcomed back a 3rd brother from the Korean War, who was the only one from his unit to return. During the war she was a plane spotter for her hometown. Rita was fun loving and was willing to try something new. As a teenager she joined a local small circus, where she performed acrobatic roller skating, she took ballet for many years, another time she volunteered to swim in a bar tank in Fort Lauderdale FL in place of swimming mermaids, in her seventies she went down the Colorado River in a raft and in her 80’s rode a jet ski in the intercostal where she was accidentally dumped in the water, but came up smiling. Rita met her husband in Dallas at the Lucas B&B café over a cup of coffee, they went on to have 5 children and moved frequently. Later in the years Rita was able to travel extensively in Europe and went on safari in South Africa. She never lost her sense of humor and fun. Rita always got involved in her community and especially her local church, St. Patrick Catholic Church, Christ the King… Rita’s faith was very important to her, she was always seeking to deepen her relationship with Christ. Rita is survived by her 5 children, Victoria and John Meyer (Dallas), Linda Garay (Dallas), Karen and Russ Dickey (Southlake), Tom and Lynda Bass (Prosper), and William and Christy Bass (Houston), 12 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is planned for 2:00pm Friday, January 13, 2023, at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, 3811 Oaklawn Ave, Dallas, Texas 75219. In lieu of flowers, please consider sending a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association. The link is provided below under Donations.
