Rita Ann Tinklepaugh Rafalko, age 89 years, former longtime Flemington, NJ area resident, returned home to the loving arms of Jesus on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at Paragon Village, Hackettstown, NJ, with her loving daughters by her side.

Born on July 10, 1931 at Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park, PA, daughter of the late Jacob and Gertrude Mullen Tinklepaugh, Rita was raised in Moosic, PA and had lived in Hillsborough, Spotswood and Ringoes, NJ, prior to moving to Raritan Township, NJ where she resided for many years before moving to Paragon Village two years ago.

Growing up in a blue collar town, post depression and post world war, Rita, the daughter of a Pentecostal coal miner father and Irish Catholic mother, was never without the things that formed her foundation and grounded her life as she aged: family, friends, faith and love.

Graduating from Moosic High School, Rita would follow her childhood passion and go on to attend the Taylor Hospital School of Nursing. With nursing being a calling rather than a job, Rita held several positions over her forty-year career including working at Foothill Acres Nursing Center, Hillsborough, NJ; serving as a head nurse at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ; creating and serving as director of the wellness program at Johnson & Johnson; and serving as a private duty nurse for those who needed a knowledgeable nurse with a listening ear and a warm, calming smile and laugh.

Raised in the catholic faith, Rita found the holy spirit guiding her life at an early age. She heard Jesus’s call in her heart to follow him, and never looked back. She was constantly reevaluating her life to ensure that she was using the gifts given to her and put his genuine love into all that she did.

Loving all peoples, Rita strove to help people find themselves as individuals, and to find out what God had planned for them. Never judging, she was a confidant and cheerleader for anyone she met; if you knew Rita, you instantly became family to her, and family was her world. She had an innate ability to see the good in every person, ‘every child of God’ as she would say, and they in turn, brought out her best.

Her gift of being able to influence others to do good was evident in the many ministries she was involved with at the parishes she belonged to over the years. Her longest time was at St. Magdalen de Pazzi Church in Flemington, NJ. It was here where Rita’s accomplishments are far too many to list, but the hearts she touched over the years will surely carry her legacy forward.

Some of the things she was proudest of were that she and her late husband, Cy, began the RCIA program at the church as well as the annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner. She also founded the Homebound Catholic Ministry which enabled those who could not attend mass regularly, to receive the sacraments and stay a part of the church life. It was after the death of her beloved Cy in 1994 that she helped found and stay involved with the Bereavement and Counseling ministry to help those affected by loss.

She was a longtime member of the Rosary Altar Society, the Charismatic Prayer Group, and was involved with practically every ministry the church had, serving in various leadership roles. She served as a church Trustee, was recognized as “Celebrated Disciple” with a dinner in her honor, and was conferred The Medal of Regina Nostra by Bishop Edward Hughes in recognition of outstanding service to God and his people in 1996.

She did all these things with a humble touch that did not want praise, but rather Rita just wanted to see the torch she lit picked up and carried by others as they followed their own hearts in Jesus’s call to action. She once wrote, and was often heard to say when asked about her involvement, or when someone was wondering how they could get involved, “When God calls someone to do something, he gives them all the grace they need for the task.”

With an understated elegance and presence, Rita was the living embodiment of grace and strength. Her selflessness knew no bounds, and she lived a life that was based on the ideal put forth by Mother, now Saint Teresa who said, “We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.” She also echoed the teachings of the famous nurse Florence Nightingale, who, like Rita was called to nursing and had a faith that could move mountains, who once said, “I think one’s feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results.” Rita was surely a woman of action who led by example and whose acts of putting passion and faith into action have made this world a better place for all peoples.

Rita’s life revolved around others, as this was her calling in life; she was a devoted wife and mother, grandmother and great grandmother, and was always evolving with her children’s hobbies as they loved to spend time with each other. From sporting events to cooking, she did it all, and always with a smile. Her rice pudding, strawberry rhubarb jam and almond butter crunch which she made and gave to everyone each Christmas, will not soon be forgotten.

She enjoyed playing Pinochle and she always seemed to have a divine intervention before her win, thus further inspiring faith in those who played against her. She was also a jigsaw puzzles master (the harder the better), and always just enjoyed simply spending time with friends.

In Ephesians 2:10 we read, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” To honor Rita is to search your soul to find and follow through with the good works that are in your heart. Remember that you will always have grace for the task at hand, and never become discouraged or dismayed as there is always a reason that things occur. Though it might not be apparent at that moment, strive to live each day stronger in your faith and with pure love in your heart and in your actions… do this, and you will honor Rita.

In addition to her husband, Sylvester A. Rafalko, Rita was preceded in death by her son and daughter-in-law, Sylvester J. and Joyce Rafalko; her sister, Mildred Felter; and her brother-in-law, Edward Rafalko.

Surviving are her daughters and sons-in-law, Cindy and Dan Hudock and Susan and Craig Wilson; her granddaughters and their husbands, Tiffany Rafalko and Justin Harvey and Kimberly and William Schreefer; her great granddaughter, Aleana Schreefer; numerous extended family; her St. Magdalen family; her Paragon Village family; and many, many dear friends who became her family.

Rita will lie in repose on Sunday, January 17, 2021 in the Chapel of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ, according to the following schedule:

~1:00-2:30 p.m. for those age 60 years and older, along with those who are immunocompromised

~2:30-3:30 p.m., for all persons; kindly note a vigil service will take place at 3:30 p.m.

There will also be an additional period of visitation at the funeral home on Monday, January 18, 2021, from 9:45-10:15 a.m..

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Magdalen Church, 105 Mine Street, Flemington, NJ on Monday, January 18, 2021 at 11:00 a.m., and to which all are welcome.

Realizing that many people will be unable to attend due to the current pandemic restrictions, the Mass of Christian Burial and the burial will be live-streamed with the following link being active starting at 10:45 a.m. the day of the service; click HERE to watch the funeral service live (please ensure that you do not have a pop-up blocker installed).

Following mass, Rita will be laid to rest at St. Magdalen Cemetery, North Main Street, Flemington, NJ, next to her beloved husband, Sylvester A. Rafalko, and her son and daughter-in-law, Sylvester J. and Joyce Rafalko.

Kindly remember that given the current state of the pandemic, masks must be worn at all times on funeral home, church, and cemetery grounds, and social distancing must be maintained. Please follow the instructions of the Wright & Ford Care Team Family Ambassadors upon arrival at each location.

You are encouraged to visit Rita’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

For those who wish to honor Rita, memorial contributions may be made to Hope House, whose responsibility is to love others! Hope House provides spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Please make checks payable to St. Magdalen/Hope House, 105 Mine Street, Flemington, NJ 08822 with a notation of ‘Rita Rafalko’ in the memo or you may donation online by clicking HERE. Also, contributions may be made to Our Lady of Providence, 31 Britton Drive, Flemington, NJ 08822. Any and all contributions are greatly appreciated by the family.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”