Obituary: Rita Fried, 86, of Prospect

Obituary courtesy of Prospect Memorial/The Palmerie Funeral Home

Rita Fried

February 9, 1936 ~ March 1, 2022 (age 86)

PROSPECT - Rita (McDonald) Fried, 86, wife of the late Al Fried, a longtime secretary and a 56-year resident of Prospect, died Tuesday night, March 1, 2022, at Marbridge Retirement Center in Cheshire, where she had lived since July. Living with Hodgkin’s lymphoma for nine years and a litany of other health problems that would’ve brought down many other people, she was an incredible fighter; she spiritually slugged it out right to the end, but her tired body finally said “No more.”

She was born in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, N.Y., Feb. 9, 1936, daughter of the late Joseph and Elizabeth (Grof) Burns. In the summer of 1958, Rita in the secretarial pool at the headquarters of U.S. Rubber (Uniroyal) in Manhattan met Al from accounts receivable; they were married in February 1960 and would stay so for 56 years, ‘til death did them part and Al passed in May 2016. And when Al was transferred to the Uniroyal Chemical computer room in Naugatuck in 1965, the young family moved from Greenpoint to Prospect.

And when her kids were old enough, Rita went back to work, becoming a secretary again in the mid-‘70s. She worked for Drs. Norman Richards, John Reynolds and Jose Villaluz in Waterbury, Lighting Services in Waterbury, and eventually for 15 years at her church, St. Anthony’s in Prospect, before retiring in 2009.

In addition to her work at St. Anthony’s, she was a longtime member of the church’s Ladies’ Guild. She was also an avid reader and TV watcher (the daily Mass, the Hallmark channels, Game Show Network, the Yankees and the UConn women, who she and Al always called “the girls”). Before her illnesses, she also loved baking cookies at the holidays.

She’s survived by her three kids: daughter Fran Fried, of Hamden, and sons Jim Fried (and wife Sharon), of Terryville, and Ken Fried (and wife Cher), of Naugatuck; two granddaughters, Megan Fried and Britney Fried, both of Naugatuck; a brother, Bill Burns (and wife Lorraine), of Plano, Texas; sisters-in-law Ellie Fried and Blanche Fried, both of Dallas, Pa., and Mary Olshan, of Tunkhannock, Pa.; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to Al and her parents, she was preceded into the afterlife by a brother, Joe McDonald, and many friends.

The family would like to thank the people who worked so hard to keep her going all these years: Dr. Edmund Caporaso, her doctor and friend of nearly four decades; her oncologists, Dr. Mark Dailey and Dr. Jeff Baker of the Hartford Health Cancer Institute; her cardiologist, Dr. George Antonopoulos of Naugatuck Valley Cardiovascular Associates; and the wonderful staffs at Marbridge and at Cheshire House in Waterbury.

The funeral will be held Thursday, March 10, at 10 a.m. at St. Anthony’s, routes 68 and 69, Prospect, with Fr. Mark Suslenko, her former boss and a dear friend, presiding, followed by burial in Prospect Cemetery. A wake will be held Wednesday, March 9, from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at the Prospect Memorial/The Palmerie Funeral Home 72 Waterbury Road (Route 69), Prospect. For information, or to share a fond memory, photo or words of comfort for the family on this website on her Tribute Wall. And while Rita loved flowers – and got to enjoy many bouquets while she was alive – please donate instead in her name to the American Cancer Society.