Rita Kamimae

Obituary of Rita Renee Kamimae

After a long battle with ovarian cancer, Rita Renee Kamimae went to be with the Lord on Monday, August 27. She was 62. Rita was born to Larry & Barbara (Buckendorf) Spargo on May 9, 1956 in Twin Falls, Idaho. A military family, the Spargos lived in several locations while Rita was growing up, though her most memorable school years were spent in Fayetteville, North Carolina. A natural beauty armed with a keen sense of style, Rita graduated from Roland’s International School of Modeling in 1971. The next year, the Spargos moved to Ontario. While employed at her parents’ furniture store, Rita met a handsome man with a fantastic sense of humor named Craig, who worked across the street at Toyota. They married on May 17, 1980. The scenery on the way to their honeymoon on the Oregon Coast was spectacularly blanketed in ash from the eruption of Mt. St. Helens which occurred the day after their wedding. Their only child, Ashley, was born May 16, 1985. Rita delighted in being a mom & made it a priority to instil in her daughter a solid sense of unconditional love, and to encourage her enthusiasm for reading, science, & art. She often served as a volunteer parent at Aiken Elementary. Rita taught her daughter perseverance but was also a fun mother who took a genuine interest in the things that fascinated her child & became known in the neighborhood as an avid Nintendo player. She was a good mom. Rita established her own bookkeeping business & quickly became known for having a sharp skill for numbers & being a perfectionist down to the last penny. She also helped people by leading a mutual self-help group for several years. A geek before it was cool, Rita loved Star Trek, taught herself to use some of the first accounting software on the market, & occasionally provided tech support to friends & family whether they wanted it or not. She preferred action & thriller movies over rom-coms, was a terrific cook & baker, and like any proper woman, relished chocolate cake, waterfalls, red roses, & beef. Rita is survived by her husband of 38 years, Craig Kamimae; daughter, Ashley Kamimae-Lanning & son-in-law, Jared Kamimae-Lanning; sister, Cherre Atagi; brother, Larry Spargo, Jr.; father-in-law, Tom Kamimae; brother-in-law Tim Kamimae (Cindy) and his children Lyndsay and Corey; & sister-in-law Janet Kamimae and her children, Jennifer, Rickey, & Tyleena. Rita was preceded in death by her father, Larry Spargo, Sr.; mother, Barbara Spargo; and nephew, Joel Barrie. A memorial service for Rita will be held at Christian Life Fellowship in Ontario on Saturday, Sept. 8th at 11:00 am. Memorial contributions may be made to Rita’s family at 1007 Ehrgood Avenue, #10, Nyssa, OR 97913. . Arrangements and Cremation by Lienkaemper Chapel, Nyssa.
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