Submitted by Fran Olson Gustafson 1965 <fgustafson917@gmail.com> on 15/May/2021 71.223.177.248
Rita Schneeweis Freeman, affectionately known as Emma, passed on May 14th after 92 full years of life.. She was predeceased by her husband, Richard Freeman, her older brother, Basil Schneeweis and his wife Phyllis, brother-in-law Martin Freeman and his wife Helaine, and son-in-law Douglas Moore. She is survived by her two daughters, Jane Freeman Moore of Hopewell Junction, and Susan and her husband Stanley Heifetz of Bedford Hills, as well as her beloved grandchildren, Michael Heifetz, his fiance Lauren Dezenski, and Danny Heifetz. Rita was born in Newburgh, New York on June 5, 1928 to Abraham and Ethel Solow Schneeweis. She attended Newburgh Free Academy and graduated from New York University in 1950 with a degree in Government. Rita married Richard Freeman, a second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corp, at The Essex House in Manhattan on October 28, 1951. They were married for 50 years. Rita, an independent minded woman, often zigged when others zagged. In an era when being a stay-at-home wife was the norm, she worked alongside her husband at J. Arnold Wood Company, the family jewelry store in Poughkeepsie, and later as a real estate agent for many years. She was also a lifelong sports fan. As a child, her older brother, Basil, paid her a nickel a day to record the box scores for the Yankees while she listened on the radio. Rita was a prodigious swimmer and basketball player in her youth, an avid tennis player and golfer in adulthood, and an obsessive Giants and Yankees fan well into old age. Her sports knowledge was so unparalleled that she became an acclaimed recurring guest on her grandson's hit podcast, The Ringer Fantasy Football Show. In her later years Rita took pride in re-learning Yiddish, the language she often heard at home in her childhood. The family will be holding a private service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to The Yiddish Book Center, a nonprofit organization working to regenerate Yiddish and modern Jewish culture. Donations can be made at
www.Yiddishbookcenter.org To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store. Published in Poughkeepsie Journal from May 14 to May 16, 2021.
Rita Schneeweis Freeman, affectionately known as Emma, passed on May 14th after 92 full years of life.. She was predeceased by her husband, Richard Freeman, her older brother, Basil Schneeweis and his wife Phyllis, brother-in-law Martin Freeman and his wife Helaine, and son-in-law Douglas Moore. She is survived by her two daughters, Jane Freeman Moore of Hopewell Junction, and Susan and her husband Stanley Heifetz of Bedford Hills, as well as her beloved grandchildren, Michael Heifetz, his fiance Lauren Dezenski, and Danny Heifetz. Rita was born in Newburgh, New York on June 5, 1928 to Abraham and Ethel Solow Schneeweis. She attended Newburgh Free Academy and graduated from New York University in 1950 with a degree in Government. Rita married Richard Freeman, a second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corp, at The Essex House in Manhattan on October 28, 1951. They were married for 50 years. Rita, an independent minded woman, often zigged when others zagged. In an era when being a stay-at-home wife was the norm, she worked alongside her husband at J. Arnold Wood Company, the family jewelry store in Poughkeepsie, and later as a real estate agent for many years. She was also a lifelong sports fan. As a child, her older brother, Basil, paid her a nickel a day to record the box scores for the Yankees while she listened on the radio. Rita was a prodigious swimmer and basketball player in her youth, an avid tennis player and golfer in adulthood, and an obsessive Giants and Yankees fan well into old age. Her sports knowledge was so unparalleled that she became an acclaimed recurring guest on her grandson's hit podcast, The Ringer Fantasy Football Show. In her later years Rita took pride in re-learning Yiddish, the language she often heard at home in her childhood. The family will be holding a private service. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to The Yiddish Book Center, a nonprofit organization working to regenerate Yiddish and modern Jewish culture. Donations can be made at
