Rita Ellen Jamason

Rita Ellen Jamason, 82, long time Gainesville resident, passed away on Saturday June 15 after a long illness. Born in New York City, she grew up in Queens, graduated from Brooklyn College and then worked in Manhattan in advertising and as a photographer before her marriage to Robert Wishart Jamason. She lived for three years in Puerto Rico with her husband and two sons before moving to Gainesville in 1976 where she worked as a commercial real estate appraiser until her retirement in 2007. Rita enjoyed travel, reading fiction and non-fiction on a wide variety of topics, being involved in local issues, visiting museums, and listening to classical music. In recent years she took great pleasure in continuing education classes at Oak Hammock, in particular the opera classes.  She had a great passion for helping children and for many years was a volunteer with Guardian ad Litem helping to advocate for children in the foster care system. Gifts in her name may be made to Guardian ad Litem, www.guardian8foundation.org. She is survived by her two sons, David and Corey, her brother Stanley, a sister-in-law Pamela, and two nieces, Karma and Tiana.