Rita Louise Impey-Imes, 58, daughter of Rose and David Impey, passed away Feb. 14, 2013. She graduated from Houston High School in 1972, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History in 1977 from the University of Missouri – Columbia. She married Thomas Imes in Boulder, Colo., at Chautauqua Park, a beautiful mountain setting in the shadow of the Flat Irons.
Rita worked at the Boulder Daily Camera newspaper from 1980 to 1987 and always remembered her years living in the Rocky Mountains as the place her spirit felt most at home. From 1997 to 2012, she worked at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga. Rita was honored for her dedication as the Rare Book Curator with the establishment of the Rita Impey-Imes Rare Book Conservation Fund established in October 2012. Her colleagues noted “her enthusiasm and love for story-telling has touched thousands of visitors to the Gallery and inspired many to pursue careers in libraries and special collections.”
Rita was a person with the patience of a saint and the generous compassion of an angel. Her life was the rare volume, when the pages are turned in the memories of her many friends, which inspire them to believe that the better angels of human nature really do exist. It is appropriate that her spirit was set free on St. Valentine’s Day.
She is survived by her husband, Tom, and son, Alex, of Kennesaw, Ga. Rita is also survived by her parents; brothers, Mike, John and Joe of Houston, Mo.; sister, Julia Aubrey of Oxford, Miss.; and brothers Jim and Robert of Columbia, Mo. She was preceded in death by her brother, Dr. William Impey, associate professor at Kennesaw State University.
A visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at Winkenhofer Funeral Home in Kennesaw, Ga. Flowers may be sent to the funeral home through Flowers West at 770-966-1255 located in Acworth, Ga. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Rita Impey-Imes Rare Book Conservation Fund via the website: https://community.kennesaw.edu/GiveToRareBookFund. Funds will be used for the conservation of books, prints, manuscripts, and leaves in the Bentley Rare Book Gallery, allowing them to be seen, held, studied and treasured by generations to come.
Interment will be in Pine Lawn Cemetery at a later date.
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