Sister Rita Alma Lemire, HSC, a Catholic nun for 72 years, passed through the gates of heaven on July 30, 2020 at the age of 92 in Spokane, Washington. She was a well- loved resident at the Riverview Retirement Community for the past several years. Rita was born April 14, 1928 in Holyoke, Massachusetts to Joseph and Justine (Brisson) Lemire. She was the youngest of eight children, six of whom were girls with four of them becoming Catholic nuns. Ironically, each child died in the order of their birth. Rita pronounced her perpetual vows as a Sister of St. Anne in Lachine, Quebec in 1948 and served 30 years before joining the Holy Spirit Community in Sioux City, Iowa, an offshoot of the Opus Spiritus Sancti Community founded in Germany. She graduated high school at the Academie of Sainte Anne in Marlborough, Massachusetts and then enrolled at Anna Maria College in nearby Paxton, eventually attending the Divine Word Institute in London, Ontario and receiving her Teacher's Diploma at the Marianopolis College in Montreal. She culminated her formal education receiving a bachelor's degree through the CREDO program at Gonzaga University. Over the course of Sister's storied career, she taught at numerous schools throughout Quebec, the Yukon Territory; Victoria and Port Hardy on Vancouver Island; Nebraska; and in Alaska at Juneau as well as in Nulato on the Yukon River. She concluded her teaching career in Spokane with stints at St. Anne's, All Saints Primary and St. Patrick's grade schools. Sister was fluent in French which served her well with her Canadian assignments. Her sense of recall of those experiences was amazing and through it all she maintained a wonderful sense of humor which was not only evident during her teaching days but continued throughout her life. She dedicated herself to God, and as a teacher, strived to educate the whole person, giving special emphasis to making the person of Jesus real to her students. Her passing represents the end of the Holy Spirit Community in Spokane as she was their last living member. Memorial gifts may be made in her name to 1HRC, 6910 S Ben Burr Rd, Spokane, WA 99223.