THE DAYTONA BEACH NEWS-JOURNAL
Daytona Beach, Florida
Friday, August 25, 2006

A celebration of the life of Rita Maxine McPartland will be at the Craig-Flagler Palms Funeral Home, 511 Old Kings Road South, Flagler Beach, FL 32136.

Rita passed on August 23, 2006, at home with her loving family at her side. Rita was born on July 3, 1931, in Morganton, N.C. One of eight siblings, Rita met and married Edward McPartland in 1957 and moved to New York City to raise their family. She retired in 1992 with her husband of 49 years and moved to Flagler Beach. Rita enjoyed entertaining family and friends, as well as music and travel.

Survived by daughters, Theresa LiPuma, Eileen McPartland, Pamela Sansone and Erin McPartland; sons include Michael, Jimmy and Edward III; also loving grandchildren, Thomas LiPuma, Margaret Rose LiPuma, Thomas Sansone and Anthony Sansone. Rita will be dearly missed by her brothers, Nolan and Pat, as well as her sisters, Frances, Brenda and Julia.

Numerous nieces and nephews also share in our loss.

Family and friends may call at the funeral home Saturday, August 26, 2006, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m.

A funeral Mass will be Monday, August 28, at Santa Maria Del Mar Catholic Church at 11 a.m. Family and friends are invited to share condolences.

Suggested donations, in lieu of flowers, include Hospice of Volusia/Flagler, 7 Florida Park Drive, Suite A, Palm Coast, FL 32137, or the American Cancer Society.

Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) - Saturday, August 26, 2006

A blind date and fate started a lifelong love affair for Edward H. Jr. and Rita M. McPartland of Flagler Beach. The couple, who had been married for 49 years, died Tuesday within several hours of each other. McPartland was 71. His wife was 75. 

McPartland was stationed in Texas with the Air Force when he met his future wife. Her girlfriend, who was dating a serviceman, set her up on a blind date with McPartland, according to their daughter, Pamela Sansome of New York City. 

Her mother was hesitant about a blind date and canceled, but McPartland pleaded for her to come because he was desperate to have a night off of the base, Sansome said. She was a country girl and he was a city-slicker, and it was his humor that took her breath away, their daughter recalled. 

"They couldn't live without each other; they relied on each other for everything," another daughter, Erin McPartland, said. "All of us kids knew that when one went, the other would not stay long." 

As it turned out, Rita died first, at home, family members said. They told their dad and within six hours, he died at a hospital. 

Edward McPartland, owner and operator of an electrical business, was a New York City native. Rita, a homemaker, was a native of Morgantown, N.C. They moved to this area in 1993 from Queens, N.Y. They were both members of Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church and enjoyed bowling on the same couples' teams for many years. He enjoyed local politics, golf, fishing, building model airplanes, puzzles and entertaining with his sense of humor. She enjoyed music. 

Additional survivors include three sons, Michael, Palm Coast, and James and Edward III, both of New York City; two more daughters, Theresa LiPuma and Eileen McPartland, both of Bunnell. 

He was also survived by his brother, Kevin, Blairstown, N.J.; and three sisters, Veronica Grande, Deer Park, N.Y., Barbara Rynn, Easton, Pa., and Ann Conrad, Warrington, Pa. 

Mrs. McPartland's survivors include her brothers, Nolan Causby, Morganton, and Patrick Causby, Drexel, N.C.; her sisters, Frances Snyder, Asheville, N.C., Brenda Young, Swananoa, N.C., and Julia Graffan, Fairfax, Va. The couple had four grandchildren. 

Memorial donations for him may be made to the American Heart Association, 555 W. Granada Blvd., Suite A-1, Ormond Beach, FL 32174; or to the Flagler County Humane Society, 1 Shelter Dr., Palm Coast, FL 32137.

Her memorial donations may be made to Hospice of Volusia/Flagler, 3800 Woodbriar Trail, Port Orange, FL 32129 or the American Cancer Society, 1620 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Suite 300, Daytona Beach, FL 32114.

Craig-Flagler Palms, Flagler Beach, is in charge.