On May 16, 2025, Rita Consuelo Orlandini lost her long battle with cancer. With her passing, we lost a warrior woman who meant so much to so many.

Rita was born on April 29, 1941, in Vallejo, California, to Cecilia Orlandini (Keiser), a city clerk, and Antonio (Tony) Orlandini, the Vallejo Assistant Postmaster and the Northern California Superintendent of U.S. Mail. She grew up with an older sister, Mary, a younger brother, Anthony (Tony), and extended family living in the same neighborhood. She graduated from St. Vincent High School with honors in 1959, receiving a scholarship to Dominican College in San Rafael. With her thick, long, wavy blonde hair, Rita would have been the envy of every influencer today. She sang in several choral groups, and often broke spontaneously into song: sometimes old favorites, other times impromptu verses that bubbled with her joie de vivre. Her indescribable laughter helped form the camaraderie of every group she joined. She graduated from college in 1963 with a degree in American Studies and a teaching credential. 

After graduation, she began her teaching career in San Rafael, CA. It was at that time that she met her first husband at a garden party at the Mare Island Naval Base in Vallejo. Thomas Rossa was a recent graduate of the United States Naval Academy, specializing in nuclear submarines. They married in 1964 and moved to the East Coast, where their daughter Jeannine and son Steve were born. When the marriage ended in 1973, Rita returned to California, where she and the children settled in Humboldt County.

Rita was passionate about sparking and nurturing children’s curiosity about art, music, and nature. Rita co-founded “Centering School,” with Stewart Sundet, an HSU art professor. The school was a small, experiential, art and nature-centered K-6 — decades ahead of its time. Rita was a powerful driving force supporting her students desire to learn; she remained in close contact with most of her fellow teachers and former students and their parents throughout her life. It was while she was teaching at Centering School that she met her second husband, Scott Sway. With Scott, Rita added supporting the Northcoast Environmental Center, rehabilitating wildlife, and outdoor adventures to her already full and vibrant life.

After a decade, Rita took a position with the Humboldt County Office of Education as the leader of their Science Action Mobile (SAM). Rita led a team to design hands-on exhibits and lesson plans on specific science topics such as the oceans, the moon and the human heart. Rita drove a 35-foot trailer to every elementary school, no matter how remote, where she taught classes and led the children through the hands-on activities in SAM. When the SAM program ended, Rita became a science education consultant. Eventually, her second marriage ended. 

Rita was later asked to be part of the California Science Implementation Network, designing new state-wide science curricula with an exciting team of science teachers. It was here that she met Jim Knerl, the love of her life, whom she married in 1992. They relocated to San Francisco, where she earned a master’s degree in science education (in her 50’s!). In 1994, they moved to Humboldt County, where she taught “big ideas” as the 7th grade science teacher at Winship Junior High School in Eureka. Always the innovator, Rita received a grant to involve her students with hands-on native plant restoration, even building a greenhouse for the kids to raise plants.

After retiring from Winship, Rita fulfilled her childhood dream of being a cowgirl with the purchase of her first horse, the second love of her life, her Appaloosa mare, Frannie. With a desire to have Frannie on their property, Rita and Jim moved to Southern Oregon in 2005. During the next 14 years, Rita and Jim became famous for their yearly Oktoberfests: food, music, and dancing with Rita in her dirndl and Jim in his lederhosen. With her usual enthusiasm, Rita joined a book club, a calligraphy club, and several riding groups; took yoga classes; became a certified Master Gardener; and sang with a local choir. She and Jim were also big supporters of the arts.

In 2019, they returned to Humboldt County. Rita stated that she would not join any group, and she stuck to it. This was in part due to her declining health — a third bout of cancer in 2022. Then in just two years, she was struck again. This time it was untreatable. She entered Hospice care while remaining at home. She died at home after many visits from family, friends and former students. 

She is survived by her husband, James Knerl, her children Jeannine Rossa and Steve Rossa (Sabine), her stepdaughter Alison Peltz (Danny), her stepson Joel Knerl, and her grandchildren Zoe, Gregor, Kelsey, River, and Benedikt. She is also survived by her sister, Mary Smart, her brother, Anthony Orlandini (Judy), her Aunt Dixie Paussa, and all of their children and grandchildren. She is also survived by many dear friends from childhood, college, teaching, horse activities, the Rogue Valley years, and of course, the SOPs. She is preceded in death by her parents and many beloved aunts, uncles, and cousins.

There will be two celebrations of Rita’s life. The first will occur at the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bayside, California (Humboldt County) on Sunday, July 13th at 2:00 p.m. You are welcome to bring desserts, stories, and music to share. The second will be a requiem mass on Saturday, July 19th at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Grants Pass, Oregon at 11:00 a.m. This will be followed by a light lunch and more sharing of stories and music.

In lieu of cards and flowers, we are asking you to consider donations to Hospice of Humboldt; the Equamore Horse Sanctuary in Ashland, Oregon; Miranda’s Animal Rescue in Fortuna, California; or to some environmental organization you may already support.

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