Obituary of Rita Lee Lyman

It is with broken hearts that Rita's family has to announce that she was tragically taken from us on September 7, 2022. Rita was born March 21, 1956 in Littlefork, MN to Frank and Vivian Schmidtke. She grew up in North Dakota but as a young teenager her family moved to Mason County where she attended Mary M Knight. Many will remember Rita from her work at the Dragon Palace or Viking Floors. Rita's pride and joy was in raising her sons Shane and Jeff. She talked to each of them everyday and was their biggest cheerleader. Rita also became like a second mom to dozens of their friends over the years. In 2009 Rita married Brad Lyman after a short 18 1/2 year courtship. They loved to adventure together including hiking, rock hounding, traveling (especially with friends), seeing live concerts and attending as many of their grandkids' events as possible (even if that meant flying to Hawaii to do so!) As someone said "Rita was a social butterfly and the glitter glue that held us all together." Rita was well known for her love of flowers, her garden and her loving hospitality. Her grandkids will miss her 'famous' jams and dried apples, but her willingness to help anyone and everyone and her joy for life will be missed by all. Rita was preceded in death by her mother, father and her siblings Cal, Denver and Sheryl. She is survived and greatly missed by her husband Brad, her sister Fran, her children Shane Haddock (Robin), Jeff Kieburtz (Jenna), Bri Rasmussen (Jeff) and Luke Lyman (Megan) as well as her 11 grandkids, five great grandkids, sister-in-law Arlene, many nieces and nephews and many friends that she considers family. A Celebration of Life is planned for October 15, 2022 from 2-4:30 at The Pavilion (Senior Center) at 190 W Sentry Drive, Shelton. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Turning Point, the Saints Pantry or any other local charity special to you.