Rita Joan Rowland

Rita Joan Rowland, a resident of Yucca Valley, passed away peacefully on January 13, 2016. She was 89 years old.

Rita Joan Lazette was born on March 16, 1926, to Orton Albert Lazette and Frances Regina Kellermeier Lazette in Ohio and grew up in Point Place, now part of Toledo. While in Ohio, Rita attended nursing school and became a registered nurse. Rita met her first husband, Charles Fuller, with whom she had three children. Shortly after the birth of their first child, Rita and Charles moved to California.

While in California, Rita became a supervising nurse in the state hospital system; she worked for the state until retirement. After her marriage to Charles Fuller ended, Rita met and later married Frank Rowland. They spent many adventurous years moving between Yucca Valley and Oceanside. They finally settled in Yucca Valley for good in 1992. Rita enjoyed life, reading, keeping up to date on medical advances, cooking and baking, her grandchildren and great grandchildren, and her sisters and friends.

Rita is survived by her three children, Jim (Becky) Fuller of Cypress, Rob (Sherry) Fuller of Garden Grove, and Cathe (Lloyd) Salveson of Twentynine Palms, as well as three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Rita is also survived by her sisters, Frances Blank of Toledo, Ohio, and Charmaine Napierala of Toledo, Ohio. Rita was preceded in death by her husband Frank Rowland, her sister Patricia Curtiss, and her brother Ramon Lazette.