Obituary

Rita Ann McClinchey (MacDonnell) Age 93. Born: June 7, 1922, Mabou, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada Died: December 8, 2015, 3:40pm  Dearborn, Michigan, USA. Beloved wife of James Allen McClinchey. Dear mother of Judith Ann McClinchey, Karen Marie McClinchey, and Michael James McClinchey. Loving Grandmother of Alyssa McClinchey, and Mikolai Solano Jaworski. Devoted sister of Mary Colena MacMillan, Angus Anthony MacDonell, Roderick Bernard MacDonnell, Angus Lawrence MacDonell, and Annie Teresa MacLellan. Rita was preceded in death by her siblings John Angus MacDonell, Margaret Ann MacDonald, Mary Janet MacMillan, Donald MacDonnell, Malcom MacDonnell, Catherine Isabel Taylor, Alexander Joseph MacDonnell, John Francis MacDonell, Alexander Duncan MacDonnell, Jerome MacDonell and Colin MacDonnell.   Beloved daughter of the late John Andrew MacDonell and Mary Catherine (Cameron) MacDonell. Dearest godmother of Jackie MacDonnell and Ron MacIsaac.

Funeral Mass Monday 11 am, December 14, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, (Michigan Ave. & Military, Dearborn). Instate at 10:30 am. Visitation Sunday 2-8 pm, December 13, at the Dearborn Chapel of the Howe-Peterson Funeral Home, 22546 Michigan Ave. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Macula Vision Research Foundation or The Celtic Music Interpretive Centre on Cape Breton Island.


Tribute

Rita Ann MacDonnell was born on June 7, 1922 in Mabou village, on Cape Breton Island, in Nova Scotia, Canada. Mabou is a breathtaking place with rolling green hills and bluffs overlooking the Atlantic. Horses with sleighs, back in the day, made Mabou Christmases the merriest. Only the locals will insist their cakes of stinky cheese are to die for, but the ceilidhs - the region's Celtic music and folk dance scene - are truly renowned, and Rita wore this heritage proudly.

Rita's Scottish Gaelic-speaking family lived on a farm, producing meat, potatoes and wheat. She was the 6th of 17 children, and helped to raise her younger siblings. Rita would recall the doctor visiting yearly, disappearing into her mother's bedroom with his plump black bag yet again, only to leave behind another newborn. "Why does our family get all the babies?" The children whined with indignation. The tight knit clan made the very best of it: bound by blood, devoted to their Catholic faith, and buoyed by the traditional music of Cape Breton Island. Rita's heart never left Mabou.

As a young adult, Rita moved to Halifax to work as a housekeeper and cook, then to Montreal by the early-mid 1940s with her sister Margie to work at the Defense Plant. They put gunpowder in the bullets on an assembly line. Eventually Rita and Cassie, another sister, immigrated to Detroit, Michigan to join a community of Cape Breton expats. Rita took a factory position at Ford Motor Company, cutting glass for windshields, where she met James McClinchey.

Rita became a naturalized US citizen in 1956, and married Jim in 1958. They set up house in a flat in River Rouge, Michigan and had three children: Judy, Karen, and Michael. Rita was a sweet and funny "Mummy," and reminded her kids of Lucille Ball. In 1968 the family moved to a 1920s brick home in Dearborn, Michigan.

Rita joined the Sacred Heart Parish in Dearborn, and attended mass regularly. At 50 years old she learned how to drive a car, volunteered at Oakwood Hospital, and eventually took a position there as a Laundress. She treasured her friends, and loved to talk on the telephone. The Detroit/Windsor Cape Breton community was a constant, with Rita always looking forward to the next ceilidh.

Baby sister, Little Annie, reflected that Rita would practically brave a wall of fire to get to the next dance. Even in recent years, blind and barely able to walk, she'd make a yearly pilgrimage to Mabou to visit family and sit in a parked car outside of Glencoe Mills, listening to the Scottish music and step dancers. A few nephews recently revealed that they supplied Rita with jars of moonshine during her visits.

After the kids left home, Rita and Jim traveled the United States, Canada, and Mexico in a motorhome. Rita loved to shop, especially flea markets and antique stores. Her great sense of humour, hearty laugh, and love of music will forever be missed along with her beautiful and loving spirit, generosity, and that healthy headful of MacDonnell hair.