Rita C. Irons

Beloved daughter, sister, mother, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother and “Nana,” Rita C. Bentley Irons was born in Guys Mills, PA on May 16, 1931 to Helen L. and Raymond E. Bentley.

Her beloved younger sisters Constance (“Connie”) and Gloria followed a few years later. Mom became like a second mom to Gloria, citing the experience caring for her as a help in raising her own children. Rita graduated from Randolph East Mead High School (PA) in 1949 and Edinboro (PA) State Teachers College in 1953.

She married David R. Irons September 1,1954, with sons Douglas born in June 1955, Kevin in June 1958, Bruce in May 1965 and daughter Cheryl in November 1967.

Rita used her teaching degree to support the family – including teaching son Kevin in first grade (he called her “Mrs. Irons” the whole time) – until the family moved to Fair Lawn, NJ in 1964. She was a full-time mom and homemaker there, in Guilderland (Schenectady), NY and, for a while, after moving to Lilburn, GA in 1979. Later, when her children were mostly grown, she became a real estate agent in Lilburn until her retirement in 2009, when she moved to Columbus, GA to be closer to daughter Cheryl and her family. In Columbus, she found a beloved church family at Edgewood Presbyterian and became active in their senior group, appropriately named “The Lively Ones.” In 2019, she moved to Ashton Manor Independent Living Facility in Lawrenceville, near son Bruce and his family.

Relationships were mom’s top priority – first to her family, then to her churches, then to her friends and neighbors. It was a family joke that her four children were as different as the four points of a compass, but she loved each of us with all her heart, treasuring and enjoying our differences, talents, accomplishments, gifts and personalities. She gave her children all the greatest gifts a parent can give, which is having each of us believe we were her favorite, and we all were right to think so. She never played favorites in love or discipline.

When grandchildren and great-grandchildren came along, “Nana” didn’t divide her love but rather, she multiplied it, loving and treasuring Courtney, Caroline, Emiline and William as her own and great-grands Catherine and Carter in the same way. Nana would often joke about the joy of being a grandparent, saying, “If I’d have known how great this is, I would’ve had them first!”

Mom was always positive and upbeat, never complaining about any situation, turning every lemon in life into lemonade, and never said a harsh word about anyone. She was the sweetest person on the planet, with the purest heart ever. She never sought the limelight, but rather was a quiet force of support in the background, loving and serving all around her.

Rita C. Bentley Irons passed away September 25, 2024, in Lawrenceville GA, preceded in death by her parents and her ex-husband, and is survived by sons Douglas, Kevin, Bruce (Teresa) Irons and daughter Cheryl Irons Myers, sisters Connie Bentley Mulligan (Bob) and Gloria Bentley Werninck (Kirby), granddaughters Courtney Irons Goershel (Chris), Caroline Irons and Emiline Myers and grandson William Irons, and great- grandchildren Catherine and Carter Goershel, along with a host of cousins and countless loved ones that we consider family.

Family and friends visitation will be held Thursday, October 3, 2024, from 6 to 8 PM, with a Celebration of Life service on Friday, October 4 at 2 PM; both at Wages & Sons Funeral Home at 1031 Lawrenceville Hwy in Lawrenceville.