Rita Doyon

Rita L. (Fontaine) Doyon, 94, wife of deceased husband Ralph Doyon, died on January 5, 2016 at St. Joseph Manor in Brockton, MA. Born in Woonsocket, RI, she was raised in a very loving home by her parents with a strong Catholic faith as an active parishioner of Holy Family Church.  She was the oldest of eight children of whom there are only two remaining living siblings, Marcel (Mac) and Madeleine George.  Rita was seventeen years old when her mother died.  Per a request from her father, Rita agreed to quit high school in order to help raise her younger siblings (the youngest only 7 years old) while he ran his business, a small Meat Market on South Main Street.

After Rita and Ralph married in 1945 they moved to the Boston area, eventually settling in Dorchester, MA where they raised their family and were parishioners at St. Matthews Church.  To supplement family income, she worked as a plastic mold operator at Gillette in South Boston for 15 years.  But her priority in life was always to raise her siblings, and then her children and even to be a mother figure to all the neighborhood children in Dorchester who affectionately called her “Mrs. D”.

In addition to her siblings, Rita is survived by five children: Andre Doyon and his wife Nancy of Duxbury; John Doyon and his wife Mary of Lutz, FL; Jeannine Foster wife of deceased husband William and her partner Don Pizzano of Hanson; Michelle Reed and her husband John of Ctr Barnstead, NH; and Denise Gabriel Randall wife of deceased husband Craig Randall and former husband John Gabriel of Whitman.  She is also survived by ten grandchildren and four great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Rita was the matriarch of our family.  Her family meant everything to her.  And she meant everything to us.  We will miss her dearly.

Visiting hours in the MacKinnon Funeral Home, 760 Washington St., Whitman on Tuesday Jan. 12 ^th 5-8 pm. A Mass of Christian burial will be on Wednesday at 9 am in Holy Ghost Church, Whitman, followed by burial at St. Charles Cemetery, Blackstone, MA.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Joseph Manor, 215 Thatcher St, Brockton, MA 02302 in thanks to the many people there who loved and cared for Rita over the past 18 years.