Rita McHugh Graf

Rita McHugh Graf, 95, of Wilkes-Barre died Monday at Riverstreet Manor.

Born October 7, 1917 in Wilkes-Barre she was a daughter of the late Bernard and Catherine Reilly McHugh.

A graduate of G.A.R. Memorial High School, Rita continued her education at the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing.

Rita was a First Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps serving in the American and Pacific theaters from 1942 to 1945.

Mrs. Graf was an active Registered Nurse for nearly fifty years. She was employed in several different New Jersey hospitals and worked at Valley Crest Nursing Home after returning to Wilkes-Barre. Following her retirement in 1985 she continued nursing in private duty.

Her husband, Thomas J. Graf died December 30, 2003. Her sisters, Kathryn Brannigan, Mary Ellis, Claire Farrell, Alice Klein and Helen (Lolly) Kittrick, brother, James McHugh, and twin-sister, Regina McEvoy also preceded her in death.

She will be greatly missed by her daughter, Mary Malone of Wilkes-Barre; sons, James and his wife Regina Graf of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and Thomas and his wife Peggy Graf of Hackettstown, New Jersey; grandchildren, Ingrid Marria of South Carolina, Jennifer Graf of Georgia, Brian DeSantis of Georgia, Erin and her husband Tom Harding of Mountain Top, Matthew and his wife Stacie Malone of Wilkes-Barre, Molly Malone of Philadelphia; great-grandchildren, Drew Marria, Brian, Kristen and Kaitlyn DeSantis, Elizabeth and Ryan Harding, Aidan and Heath Malone; nieces, nephews and cousins.

Celebration of Rita’s Life will be held Wednesday with a Funeral Mass at 10:30 AM in the Church of Saint Patrick on Parrish Street in Wilkes-Barre. Interment will be in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Plains.

Rita’s family is grateful to the staff of Riverstreet Manor and Hospice of the Sacred Heart for the kind and compassionate care they gave her.

Arrangements by McLaughlin’s – The Family Funeral Service.

Permanent messages and memories can be shared with Rita’s family at www.celebrateherlife.com