Obituary of Rita Marie McGrath

"Nana" At age 94, Rita passed away peacefully on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at the Chemung County Nursing Facility. Rita was born and raised in New York City, a daughter of Charles and Catherine Haughney Duffy from County Tyrone and County Carlow, Ireland. She was predeceased by her husband, William J. McGrath in 1984, her son, William J. McGrath, Jr. in 2008 and her sisters, Catherine, Dorothy, Winifred and Margaret. Rita is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Rita Marie and Thomas Finnerty of Elmira and daughter-in-law Melinda McGinty McGrath of Florida; grandchildren: Thomas, Jr. (Kelly) Finnerty of Canton,NY, Margaret (Richard) DiMeglio of Charlottesville, VA., William (Kristie) Finnerty and Peter (Amy) Finnerty of Elmira, NY, Jennifer(Randy) Harvey, Carrie Harrison, Kathryn (Clint) Early, Brian McGrath, Meaghan(Marc)Jordan, all of Texas, Anne McGrath of California; along with numerous great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews; and the Byrne Family first cousins . Rita was an executive secretary at AT&T and retired in 1987. She moved to Elmira in June of 1993 to be near her daughter and family. She was a major part of the family. She was a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. Rita was known as "Nana" to everyone - friends of her daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren called her "Nana". Nana loved ceramics, playing pinochle, bingo and blazing seven slot machines. No event was too small to celebrate with family dinners and get-togethers. Nana will be especially missed by great-children - Kiernan DiMeglio, Jack, Andrew, Abbie, Molly Patrick, Daniel, Alisaundre and Elizabeth Finnerty who spent a lot of time with Nana and loved sharing their achievements and activities with her. Nana had lived at Woodbrook Assisted Living for 6 years and loved when the great-grandchildren dropped in to see her. Due to declining health, she had resided at the Chemung County Nursing Facility since the summer of 2019. Nana always talked glowingly about the staffs at Woodbrook and CCNF for their kind and loving care. She was blessed and the family is tremendously grateful. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held for Rita on Thursday, July 30, 2020, 11:00 a.m., at Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Interment will take place on Friday, July 31, 2020 at the Cemetery of the Resurrection, Staten Island NY. In following NYS guidelines for covid-19, face masks will be required if attending Rita’s Mass and there will be a limit of 100 people at the Mass.