Rita Elsa Hobbs died on August 1, 2026 at the age of 88. She was born in Linklaen, New York (together with her beloved twin sister Martha) on Feb. 25, 1938 to German immigrants John Baptist and Ida (Goeppert) Singler. She grew up on a dairy farm surrounded by her seven siblings. Hard work, faith, and family were constant themes in her early years in New York and although life was not easy, Rita would always remember these years as some of the best of her life, enjoying the simple pleasures of farm life with her loving parents.

Rita was twelve when her father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The family decided moved across the country to farm in Mt. Angel, Oregon in 1949, in the hopes that the German Catholic community there would provide a welcoming and supportive environment for the children after their father’s death, which occurred six months later. Rita and her seven siblings worked countless hours after school to help support the family; with the older boys stepping into the role of bread-winners while still young.

Mt. Angel Abbey provided a steadfast spiritual and educational life for the family. Rita was even inspired to become a nun, joining the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Clyde, Missouri for a time as a novice before eventually discerning out of the Order and returning to her family home in Oregon. Rita never lost her love for special service to Our Lord, and became a Benedictine oblate through the Abbey. Her home was always filled with Catholic treasures and literature; she taught CCD and RCIA at her parishes over the years, and her faith remained unwavering, even in deeply sorrowful periods of her life.

Rita’s true vocation was devoted service to her children. Rita married in 1970, and her four children were the joy of her life. Impromptu road trips to the Oregon coast and Multnomah Falls and visits to her family farm in Mt. Angel are some of the many adventures she took with the kids loaded in the back of the station wagon. Rita’s answer to every “Should we?” was always “Yes!” even when it meant skipping school to go out for breakfast (always after daily Mass), buying larger-than-prudent fireworks for the 4th of July, or making late-night runs for ice cream. She imparted on all her children the joy of living and that they were very precious. Her self-sacrifice for them knew no bounds.

Rita was also blessed with six grandchildren whom she visited often in Syracuse, never wanting to miss any birthdays or First Communion celebrations. She was never happier than when she was just sitting with them, telling her farm stories again and again with laughter and delight. She ended each visit with a handwritten love note for each child, left in secret on their pillows. In 2026 Rita crossed the country once again back to Upstate New York to live the rest of her days surrounded by her grandchildren. She passed away peacefully with them faithfully by her side. Rita’s little rituals of love will live in our memories forever.

Rita is predeceased by her husband Raymond Hobbs, her siblings Maryanne, Joseph, John, and Anton Singler.

She is survived by her sisters Martha Wells, Ida Terzuolo, and brother Leo Singler; her sons Joseph, Don, and Gregory Park, daughter Gloria (James) Hunt, and her grandchildren Vincent, Claire, Peter, Brian, Matthew, and Nora Hunt as well as many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 10am at Transfiguration Church, 740 Teall Avenue Syracuse, NY 13206. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, DeWitt, NY.