Rita Mae Henderson

Rita Mae Henderson (Huffman), age 82, of Loveland, Colorado passed away at home, Sunday, April 18th, 2021 surrounded by her loving family and friends. She was born July 25th, 1938, in Gillette, Wyoming to Ralph Sweet and Mildred Agnes Huffman (Wilmoth). Rita graduated from Sargent High School in Sargent, Nebraska. Upon graduating, she married William J. Drake of Comstock, Nebraska. They had four children: Jacob Scott, Tonya Rae, William Craig, and Tracy Alan. She and her children moved to Colorado in 1967 and she never left the mountains she came to love. Due to her natural ability to help and instill her wisdom in others, Rita worked for 30 years as a drug and alcohol counselor in Northern and Eastern Colorado. She was an avid quilter, loved playing bingo, and enjoyed sightseeing road trips to the mountains. Rita was an animal lover all her life and took in several orphaned pets (domestic and wild) over the years. For many years, she looked forward to serving her community by helping to organize and putting on the Annual Ann Jensen Thanksgiving Day Dinner at the local VFW (Associated Veterans of Loveland). She enjoyed time spent with family and friends, and visited her son in Wisconsin often, where she could dip her feet in the ice-cold waters of Lake Superior. She is survived by her children, J. Scott Drake of Loveland, Colorado; Tonya and husband Scott Dixon of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Tracy Drake and husband Allen Bender, of Superior, Wisconsin; Randy and wife Kathy Schreiner, of Greeley, Colorado; Kevin and wife Debbie Schreiner of Johnstown, Colorado. She is also survived by eight grandchildren, Liberty Duran (Jeremy) of Greeley, Colorado; Claire Duran (John) of Greeley, Colorado; Nicole Pericharos of Aurora, Colorado; Elyse Drake of Loveland, Colorado; Arielle Drake of Wilmington, North Carolina; Jeff, Kory, and Darci Schreiner of Colorado; seven great-grandchildren and honorary brother, Jim Keuhl (Vicki), of Loveland, Colorado. She is preceded in death by her "momma”, Mildred; "daddy”, Ralph; brother, Robert L. Huffman; and her son, William Craig Drake. Rita will be interred in the family plot at Gates Cemetery in Gates, Nebraska, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her honor to the Associated Veterans of Loveland, 970-667-4722 for donation information.