Rita Estelle Phelps

RITA PHELPS MUSCATINE, Iowa - Rita Estelle Phelps, 75, of Muscatine, died Saturday, April 9, 2010, at home. Graveside Service will be 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at Memorial Park Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society in Rita's honor. The Ralph J. Wittich-Riley-Freers Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Rita was born on February 8, 1935, in Nichols, the daughter of George A. and Alice Bekker Stych. She married Donald G. Phelps on November 13, 1952 in Muscatine. He preceded her in death. She was a graduate of the University of Iowa and the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. She was a retired dental hygienist and had worked at Bellvue Hospital. She enjoyed gardening, cooking, bird watching, watching the Iowa Hawkeys and the Chicago Cubs. Those left to honor her memory include five sons, David Phelps and wife, Michelle, of Muscatine, Donald Phelps of Muscatine, Douglas Phelps and Colleen Riley of Muscatine, Daniel Phelps of Sacramento, and Tom Phelps and wife, Judy, of Quincy, Illinois; three daughters, Linda Parks of Des Moines, Angela Babb and husband, Kevin, of Des Moines, and Kathy Fear of ...[more]

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catine; 19 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; five brothers, Paul Stych and wife, Ellen, of Muscatine, Maynard Stych and wife, Joyce, of Muscatine, Keith Stych and wife, Nancy, of Muscatine, Ronald Stych and wife, Margaret, of Muscatine, and Kenneth Stych and wife, Kim, of Muscatine; and four sisters, Jeanette Phillips and husband, Allen, of Muscatine, Donna Conisbee and husband, Syd, of Lewisville, North Carolina, Rosemary Hollatz and husband, Jim, of Muscatine, and Nancy Young and husband, Tom, of Muscatine. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; and two brothers, George Stych and Wayne Stych.