Rita Margaret (Kelly) Murphy. Born June 5, 1924 to Delia and Matthias Kelly. Raised in Brookline MA. Sister of Anne Manning, and the late Kay Hurley and Matthew (Sonny) Kelly. Rita married Dennis "Eddie" Murphy in 1948 and settled in her beloved Clark Court home in Brookline where she and Eddie raised what was ultimately a family of 7 children. Rita is survived by 4 daughters: Maureen Murphy (Glenn Linko, deceased); Joyce Murphy (Bill Melanson); Rita Williams (John) and Annemarie Flaherty (Joe). She suffered the heartbreaking loss of 3 children who predeceased her: Janice Sweeney (Mike); Dennis and Brian Murphy. In addition to her 4 daughters, she leaves 3 beautiful grandchildren: Julia, Joseph and Nicole Sweeney. She was very proud of her Irish roots as first generation Irish- American. Both her parents and Eddie's,(all 4 of them), immigrated to America from Ireland as young adults in pursuit of a better future. Rita was a devout Catholic and a faithful parishioner and Eucharistic Minister at St. Mary of the Assumption Church. She lived a long and beautiful life and experienced great joy as well as overwhelming loss. Her tremendous faith and strength of character helped her through the adversity she faced in life. Her proudest roles were of wife and mother and she was deeply committed to Eddie and her children. She loved and cared for them with all her heart. Family always came first for Rita. She was a staunch member of the St. Mary's Mothers' Club and Bowling League as her children were growing up and attending the St. Mary's church school. She thoroughly enjoyed her 2 week summer vacations as a family in York Beach, Maine with her close knit extended family of sisters, cousins, nieces and nephews. After staying an extra year in kindergarten, Rita Kelly became a high achieving student and ultimately the valedictorian of her St. Mary's High School Class in 1942. Despite her intellect and interest in higher education, she went directly to work full time at The Brookline Trust to help her widowed mother in support of the family. She was an avid seamstress, making many of her children's outfits and repairing anything in need. She was an avid reader, baker and basketball player. Rita was a dog lover who would readily take in whatever homeless dogs her relatives or children brought to her. Later, she even took in a cat. After all her children were 'launched' and well into their school years, Rita accepted a position with the Town of Brookline School Department and ultimately worked for 20+ years in the School and Administrative Support Departments. After many happy years in her beloved family home, Rita moved to Springhouse Independent Living, Jamaica Plain in 2004 where she lived until 2017 when she transitioned to Springhouse Assisted Living for a short time and ultimately to the Elizabeth Seton Residence in Wellesley for the last 8 months of life. Sadly, Rita was diagnosed with COVID-19 just 8 days prior to her death. Though asymptomatic at diagnosis, and limited symptoms for the first several days, she took a bad turn on Sunday and died Tuesday evening. The family wishes to thank all of the front line caregivers who treated her with great care, compassion and courage. Rita will be sorely missed as a cherished mother, grandmother and mother-in law. That said, the family is so very grateful that we had her in our lives for such a long time. In lieu of flowers donations in memory of Rita may be made to the Elizabeth Seton Residence, 125 Oakland St., Wellesley, MA. 02481 (this is to honor the front line staff at the ESR who took care of Rita during this difficult time) Due to Coronavirus (COVID-19), restrictions put in place by Gov. Charles Baker and the Archdiocese of Boston services will be private. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated in the coming months when restrictions on large gathering has been lifted.