Rita A. Dalton

Rita A Greenhalgh was born the daughter of Leonard Morris Greenhalgh and Fern Woolsey on August 24th, 1937 in Powell, Wyoming. Rita grew up in Powell, Wyoming and Portland, Oregon. When Rita was five years old the family moved from Powell, Wyoming to Portland, Oregon where they lived in a number of different homes. Rita attended Peninsula Elementary School. They lived in Portland while her father worked in the shipyards. At the age of eight the family moved back to Powell, Wyoming to their house on Day Street. It was while in the third grade that Rita met her lifelong friend, Joyce Bauer Werbelow. At the age of 10 Rita started taking piano lessons but had to practice at a neighbor’s house because the family did not own a piano. Her mother sold Rita and her brother, Gary’s, savings bonds to purchase a piano of their own. Rita loved to sing and sang in the church choir, solos in church and would play records at home while she sang along. After graduating from high school Rita worked for Husky Oil. The family moved back to Portland and Rita moved too. She ended up working for the Portland Water Bureau. While at the Water Bureau, Rita met Phyllis Barnett who set her up on a blind date with her younger brother, Lawrence. Eleven days and three dates later, they got engaged. On August 2, 1957 they were sealed in the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple for time and all eternity. Rita and Larry had six children; Larry Dean Dalton (Deborah), Richard Craig Dalton (Joan), Robyn Stacey Dalton Boyles (Stephen), Shelley Roxanne James, Gene Calvin Dalton (Athena) and Deanna Lynne Dalton Gregory (Robert). Rita has 16 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. Family has always been very important to her. Rita also loved her Savior and was a life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many different callings. Primary teacher, Primary secretary, Primary counselor and Primary president several times. She served as a Young Women’s counselor and president. She served as a Relief Society president, Stake Primary counselor and president. She served as the Meeting House Librarian as well as Director of the Family History Library. She served as the ward organist for 18 to 20 years as well as playing the organ in the temple. She loved serving as an ordinance worker in the Oregon Portland Temple for 12 years. There was no doubt that Rita loved her Savior and she rarely missed a church meeting. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s with Vascular Dementia, but could be found sitting at the back of the chapel each Sunday until she fell at home and was confined to a bed for the last month of her life. One of Rita’s biggest fears was losing her memory and having to be placed in a nursing home. She went to live with Craig and Joan for the past six and a half years and was able to be cared for by them at home with the help of Robyn and Hospice. She passed away quietly on the morning of Saturday, November 2, 2024 where she returned to her Heavenly Father and Savior as well as her husband, Larry, her grandson, Nicolas, her parents Morris and Fern Greenhalgh, brother, Gary Greenhalgh and sister, Sandra Snider. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 9, 2024 in the Newberg 2nd Ward Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at 1212 Deborah Road, Newberg, OR. There will be a viewing in the Relief Society Room at 10:00AM prior to the funeral service at 11:00AM. For those unable to attend in person, you can attend via Zoom by the following link: https://zoom.us/j/98434410221#success

Rita A. Dalton

August 24, 1937 - November 2, 2024