Rita Mardel Watsic

Rita Mardel Watsic, age 85, of Joppa, MD, died on May 27, 2011 at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium, MD. Born in Baltimore, MD, she was the daughter of the late Alfred Thomas and Anna Marsalek McDonough and wife of the late George Eccles Watsic. She retired, after 25 years, from Coldwell Banker Realtors in Bel Air where she was the office manager. A member of St. Margaret Catholic Church in Bel Air, she was a devout Catholic. She had volunteered, for over 15 years, at both Upper Chesapeake Medical Center and Fallston General Hospital at the patient information desk, which she immensely enjoyed doing. An avid gardener, she loved to cook and bake, and especially making homemade cookies for her granddog, Della. She enjoyed spending time with her daughter, Karen, who was her best friend, taking drives on country roads, going out to lunch and shopping. She enjoyed watching the birds in her backyard and she was especially pleased when bluebirds decided to nest there. She was a very independent person living in her home of 38 years, driving her car, and being totally self sufficient right up to the end.

Mrs. Watsic is survived by her daughter, Karen Rita Cope and her husband, Christopher G., of Bel Air, MD; brother, Thomas Joseph McDonough and his wife Marion L., of Parkville, MD; sister, Mary Evelyn Quast and her husband Walter A., of Joppa, MD and sister Anna Julia Reagan of Phoenix, AZ; her granddog, Della, and many nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her son, George Louis Watsic; brothers, Francis W., Alfred Charles, and Eugene M. McDonough; and brother in law, Bernard Reagan.

Pallbearers will be Michael C. Hill, Jeremy McDonough, Jimmy McDonough, Greg Sorg, John Naused and Paul McSorley.

Those who desire may make donations to American Heart Association, P.O. Box 5216, Glen Allen, VA 23058 or Kidney Foundation of Maryland, 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 202, Baltimore, MD 21204 or Harford County Humane Society, 2208 Connolly Road, Fallston, MD 21047.