RITA J. CHALMERS

BANGOR – Rita (Goetz) Chalmers, wife of George L. Chalmers, has passed away comfortably in her home Monday morning, April 7, 2008. She was born May 4, 1925, in Troy, N.Y., the daughter of John and Johanna Goetz, immigrants who entered the U.S. through Ellis Island, N.Y. She attended public schools and later a school started for young children called Mary Warren Free Institute then Troy High School. From a young age she wanted to be a nurse and was able to attend Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing and received a four-year registered nursing degree. During World War II she was a Cadets Nurse Corps student, where she met her husband, George, at the hospital after he was injured playing football. George was attending RPI in Troy and was from Bangor. They were married in 1946 and had two children and have lived at the same house that they built together in Bangor since 1953. She went back to work in the late 50s and put in 25 years working part time at Eastern Maine Medical Center. Last year she and George celebrated 61 years of marriage together. She leaves behind her husband; a daughter, Susan Chalmers of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and son, Dale Chalmers, his wife, Diane, and grandchildren, Casey and Tom, of Salt Lake City. Rita had many passions in her years of living in Bangor and created groups to enjoy those passions with. When son, Dale, started playing golf, she also got involved and was an active member of the women’s golf association at the new Bangor Municipal Golf Course. That interest eventually changed to tennis, which she actively played up to the age of 76. She was always involved with getting groups together for round robins or enough ladies to fill the courts with doubles. Somewhere in the time that the children left home, she got interested in investing and was a founding member of an investment club that met once a month to pay their dues and invest those dues in common stock. It turned out to be a very profitable membership. After trying a few different mediums of being creative, sewing quilting and decoupage, she settled on stained glass. Through many years she creatively made beautiful jewelry boxes, note boxes, guest towel holders, lamps and picture frames, she is best known for her stained glass nativity pieces. She and husband, George, enjoyed many years of exploring many places around the world with the Elder Hostel Organization, going to all those places that they had never been before and wanted to visit. They also spent their retirement years visiting Florida and playing tennis in the winter months. A memorial service will be held 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor, with the Rev. Dr. James L. Haddix, pastor and teacher of All Souls Congregational Church, officiating. The family invites relatives and friends to share conversation and refreshments immediately after the service Thursday at Brookings-Smith Family Center, 163 Center St., Bangor. Those who wish to remember Rita in a special way may make gifts in her memory to Bangor YMCA, 127 Hammond St., Bangor, ME 04401.