Rita A. Biafore

Rita Agnes Biafore was born in Toronto, Canada on September 26, 1932, to Mary Thompson Ciupa and Michael Ciupa. She passed away peacefully on November 30, 2024, in Naples, Florida, surrounded by her loving family. Rita graduated from St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing in Toronto and enjoyed a long career doing the nursing work that she loved. She had a lifelong wanderlust that saw her travel to Miami in the winter months of her younger years for nursing and later becoming an Air Canada Flight attendant. Rita met Joe Biafore on a blind date and the two married in 1959. They enjoyed a happy life together in Toronto, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Naples, Florida. The couple celebrated their 65th anniversary in May 2024 with family and friends. Joe passed away in August 2024. Rita is survived by her daughter Jo-Anne, son Tom and daughter-in-law Patti, and her beloved granddaughter Corinne. Affectionately known to some as “Hurricane Rita”, she was never one to sit still. Whether in tennis, golf, rollerblading, biking, hiking, travel and even her unofficial paper route. Rita approached all activities with unrelenting enthusiasm. Rita supported her children in all their interests, even if that meant picking up thousands of tennis balls or acting as a chauffeur to the most obscure of extracurricular activities. Despite being so involved with her own children, she continued with her nursing work during nights and weekends, driven by her love of medicine and helping others. Rita was a lifelong learner with insatiable curiosity. She loved the arts and her summers in Tanglewood. She even tried her hand in painting in her later years and was a Poetry Slam devotee, an activity occasionally met less than enthusiastically by her children as she work shopped her latest bank verse on them. Rita’s zest for life continued after she and Joe moved to Naples in 1991 where she worked in the surgical center into her 80s and spent countless volunteer hours supporting the Immokalee community and the Naples Free Clinic. Throughout her various stops along the way, Rita never met a stranger and was always helping others. She is perhaps best known by her acts of kindness throughout the community, that and her sense of humor sustained her. We miss her greatly every day. A celebration of Rita’s life will be held at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church on Saturday, April 12, at 11:00 a.m., with a reception to follow at Stonebridge Country Club. In Rita’s honor we encourage those wishing to commemorate her life to consider donating to The Immokalee Foundation. Donations can be made online by visiting immokaleefoundation.org/donate or call 239 430 9122.

Rita A. Biafore

September 26, 1932 - November 30, 2024