Obituary: Rita VanHouse Perko, 87

Rita VanHouse Perko, 87, formerly of Northern Virginia, died Sunday, July 8, in Lawrence Township.

Rita was born in Benedict, Neb., on Jan. 16, 1925.

She served in the United States Air Force from 1951 until her discharge in 1955, attaining the rank of staff sergeant with the 2750th WAF Squadron.

In 1957 she moved to Washington D.C. to work in the congressional office of U.S. Representative Glenn Cunningham (R-Nebraska) where she worked until 1965. From 1967 until 1989 she worked at the Planning Research Corporation of McLean, Va. While residing in Arlington and Vienna, Va., Rita served as a Girl Scout leader, with 20 years of service to scouting. She was an active member of St. Mark Roman Catholic Church in Vienna, Va.

Wife of the late Arnold David Perko, she is survived by her daughters Mary Tidwell and her husband Bruce of Whiteville, N.C., and Kathy Aveni and her husband John of East Windsor, N.J. Also surviving are her grandchildren Lauren and James Tidwell and Katie and Timothy Aveni; and her sisters Vendla Lamborn and MaryAnn Donoghue.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, July 14, at 11 a.m. at the Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel at in Lawrence Township.

Family and friends may call on Saturday from 10 a.m. until the time of the Mass at the chapel.

Burial with military honors will be held on Tuesday, July 17, at the Columbus County Memorial Park in Whiteville, N.C., at 10 a.m. under the direction of the Peacock Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial contributions in Rita’s memory be made to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation or your local Girl Scout Troop.

Arrangements are under the direction of .