Our longtime member, Rita Louise Hytrek McWhorter, 97, passed away peacefully on March 15, 2023. Rev. Peers was able to do a short visit with Rita and one of her daughters at Cokesbury just a few days before.

Rita joined the church officially on November 1, 1970. Some of our members remember her fondly for her love of birdwatching. She “often traveling with her binoculars and excited to add another species to a growing ‘life list.’ ”

She spent more than a decade leading children’s discovery tours at the Ashland Nature Center, sharing her love and respect for nature with them and two of her grandsons.

She kept sharp by regularly attending classes at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute where she also taught writing. She edited former Delaware Governor Russ Peterson’s works and later published Johanna, a novel based on her grandmother’s life on the prairie on their Homestead.”

Rita is survived by her children, Karen Wilhelm (Mike), Diane McWhorter, Laura Cummings (Bill), Paula McWhorter, John McWhorter (Graziella), Carla Markell (Jack) and Scott Smathers (Karen); 13 Grandchildren; 25 Great Grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held privately.

To view a complete obituary for Rita, please click here.