Originally from Philadelphia, Rita graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. She migrated to Florida where she worked for Federated Department Stores for 12 years, traveling the world as a buyer and eventually moving into Merchandise Operations, working with Senior Executives on the numbers side of the retail business. After relocating to Cleveland, Ohio, she threw herself into Synagogue life, starting as an office volunteer and culminating in the position of Executive Director of Congregation Bethaynu, a Conservative Synagogue in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Moving back to Florida after 11 years, she continued her career by running the office of the growing Conservative congregation Shaarei Kodesh in West Boca. In January of 2013 she joined Temple Beth El as Assistant to the Executive Director, and has utilized her attention to detail, planning and communication skills to grow in the organization to now supervise the Maintenance staff, Security, and all Operational logistics of both the Schaefer and Beck Family campuses.
Rita and her husband Richard live in East Boca Raton. She enjoys reading, cooking, theater, and travel. They are proud of their daughter Sarah, who lives in Los Angeles, where she is living out her passion for literature as a writer and by working in children’s publishing.
