Rita was born in Cap-de-la-Madeline, Canada on April 13, 1921. Her Godparents were Joseph Fournier and Marie-Anna Lemay. She died on March 26, 1953 in a house fire with her two daughters, Constance and Priscilla located on Fairview Road in Sturbridge, MA. The headlines of the Worcester Evening Gazette for Thursday, March 26, 1953 read; "STURBRIDGE FIRE TAKES 3 LIVES", with the following article.
MOTHER DIES AFTER SAVING 3 CHILDREN

STURBRIDGE, March 26 - A mother and two children she tried to rescue perished in a fire that destroyed their two-room wooden home during the night. Mrs. Rita Gauthier, 31, of Fairview Road, ignored a neighbor's warning not to re-enter the flaming structure after she left in his custody three other small children she led to safety. Besides Mrs. Gauthier, Constance Gauthier, 5, and Priscilla Gauthier, 2, died. Rescued by their heroic mother were Theresa Gauthier, 4, Jacqueline Gauthier, 3, and Robert Gauthier, 2 1/2 months.

Donat Petit, the neighbor with whom Mrs. Gauthier left the three children, said she "practically threw" them at him in her haste to return to the burning house and save the others. He called to her to stop, but she paid no heed.
Father Rushes to Home

Romeo Gauthier, father of the children was at work on a 3 P.M. to 1 A.M. schedule at the Southbridge Finishing Co., when the fire started at 11:30 P.M. Notified of it, he drove to his home and arrived about 12:15 A.M. to find the 14 by 19 foot frame house he built himself seven years ago consumed by flames.

The grief-stricken father said the tiny house represented a temporary shelter for his family, while close by, he was working in his spare time and as money became available to construct a larger home. Besides working in the mill, Mr. Gauthier worked part-time as a cab driver and as a filling station attendant.

State Police were of the opinion the fire was caused by an overheated oil burner in the kitchen, separated by a partition from the only bedroom in the house. So intense was the heat a television aerial was bent in two. The stricken family lost all their belongings.

At Wife's Parents' Home

Mr. Gauthier and his three surviving children were given shelter at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alphonse Spenard of 31 High Street, Southbridge, parents of his dead wife. The bodies of the victims were removed to Ernest Tetreault Funeral Home. It was learned that while Mr. Gauthier was at work earlier in the night he felt sick and considered going home. But remained on the job.

Besides her husband and the children she leaves her parents; two brothers, Leo Spenard of North Grosvenordale, Conn., and Bruno Spenard of Southbridge; and eight sisters, three of them in religious orders. The nuns are Sister Mary of the Assumption and Sister St. Rachel, both Carmelites and stationed in the Philippines, and Sister Marie of the Cross, serving in Springfield. Her other sisters are; Irene, wife of Adelard Bergeron; Gertrude, wife of Ernest Gregoire; Georgette, wife of Leo Cadarette, and Miss Theresa Spenard, all of Southbridge, and Alice, wife of Conrad Toutant of North Grosvenordale, Conn.

Funeral services will be held Saturday morning at 8:00 A.M. at the Ernest Tetreault Funeral Home with a high mass in St Anne's Church at 9:00 A.M. Burial will be in the New Notre Dame Cemetery. Calling hours at the funeral home will be from 2 to 4 P.M. and 7 to 10 P.M. tomorrow.

Marie Josephe Rita Spenard is the Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter of DAR Patriot Antonie Spenard, of the French Canadian Revolutionary War Patriots.