Rita E. Spinney

BREWER – Rita Emma Spinney, 76, wife of Richard E. Spinney, passed away Feb. 23, 2026 in Orono after a long illness. She was born July 8, 1949 in Lewiston, the daughter of Gerard A. and Lillian D. (Rainville) Turgeon.

As a 1970 graduate of St. Mary’s General Hospital School of Nursing, she soon put her nursing skills to work. While working as a maternity nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital, she met her future husband of 53 years, Richard, on a blind date. After the couple married in 1971, she continued working as a nurse helping to open an office for an OB/GYN in Rockland. After some encouragement, she began teaching Prepared Childbirth Classes. Being married to a Coast Guardsman, the couple drove across country with their 3-month-old daughter to the San Francisco area where they lived for three years and had another daughter. From there, they moved to Hawaii, on to Long Island, N.Y., and back to Maine where the two finally settled after their first 20 years of marriage.

Rita was a wife first, a mother second, and always a nurse. Having two young daughters in California, she was a stay-at-home mom. In Hawaii, she worked part time for a general practitioner on Oahu as a nurse/secretary primarily treating the native Hawaiian women. She loved being a nurse again and meeting the new people. During the three years on Long Island, N.Y., she was wife and mother, and nursing took a back seat. Back in Maine again, the nursing bug took over.

Living near the Ellsworth hospital, she worked variously as a nurse/secretary for an ophthalmologist who had opened his new office. Maternity was always her love and she began teaching Prepared Childbirth Classes again and word spread among doctors and patients alike. She taught the classes for many years – in some cases teaching the children of her first classes. During this time, Rita also taught Medical Terminology classes for Ellsworth Adult Ed. Between childbirth classes and medical terminology, she was in her glory.

No matter where Rita lived, she knew where the Catholic Churches were and attended mass as often as she could. After settling in Ellsworth and eventually Brewer, Rita was very active in St. Joseph’s Church in Brewer. She volunteered as a member of the funeral ministry, a sacristan, a member of the choir and eucharistic minister. In that capacity, she would go to people’s homes to give Holy Communion after Mass and she would visit people in assisted living weekly to give Communion. Giving Communion had to be her greatest love of all and it broke her heart when she had to give it up due to her illness.

In addition to being a wife, mother, nurse, daughter, sister, and daughter-in-law, she was a creator. Rita loved to cook, bake, sew, knit, and quilt. If she was in the kitchen, she would try most recipes at least once. Her cookbooks fill an entire bookcase. “Ono” is written in the corners of some pages. Someone might mistake Ono for “don’t try this.” Ono in Hawaiian means tasty, wonderful or exceptionally good. The drapes she made by herself still hang in our front window. I could go on and on about her sewing, knitting, and quilting. She knitted sweaters worn by her husband and afghans to ward off the winter’s chill; quilted pillows and wall hangings are treasured by family members; and other items she created are too numerous to mention here.

Rita is survived by her husband Richard; their two daughters and families, Cheryl (Troy) and two sons, Chad and Cole; and Jeanne (Brian) and son, Jack; a sister, Annette (Lee) and a brother, Charles (Sylvia).

Family and friends may visit Rita and family from 4 to 7 p.m., March 3, at Kiley & Foley Funeral Service, 69 State St., Brewer. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 a.m., Wednesday March 4, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 531 North Main St., Brewer. Burial will be in the spring at Woodlawn Cemetery, Brewer.

Messages and memories of Rita may be shared with her family on the tribute wall of kileyandfoley.com.

The family requests no flowers, so rather, for those who wish, contributions in Rita’s memory may be made to:

St. Paul The Apostle Parish

217 York St.

Bangor, ME 04401